Stranger Days
by NoNewNews
Summary: Walking into a classroom filled with Naruto characters turned homicidal high schoolers was somehow the calmest part of this week. (OC/World Transfer and AU)
1. Chapter 1: First Day

Stranger Days

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Chapter 1: First Day

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'

I woke with a strange feeling. Something felt... Off. The feeling tightened like a coil in my stomach, threatening to snap, as I stole a quick glance around my room.

It was exactly the same as it'd been for the last few months since we'd moved, from the outdated pink curtains and bedsheets, to the freshly painted white walls and furniture. The only thing that differed from the norm even in the slightest was the open door where my mother was currently standing, holding a short bundle of clothes.

"You're going to be _late,_ Emiya." Her foot tapped impatiently. "Really, today of all days?"

I grumbled, rolling over in bed to fully face her. Late? What could I possibly be late for? It was still the weekend, after all—

Oh, wait.

My hands groped blindly around my bedside table for my phone. As soon as my fingers found the cool metal, I sat up to check the date with a gasp.

April 6th.

The first day of high school, and I had already overslept.

"Oh crap!" I yelled, jumping onto the floor, feet tangling in the bedsheets. I freed myself quickly before scrambling towards the door. "I'm going to be late!"

"That's what I just said," Mom rolled her eyes, handing the bundle of clothes over. "your uniform, by the way—fresh from the cleaners. Thankfully, they managed to get rid of that stain. Make sure not to spill any paint on it again, though."

"Thanks." I mumbled hurriedly, taking the stack before rushing to the bathroom.

"I have to head to work now," she called as she turned down the hall, patting down the edges of her already flawlessly styled bun. "this case is going to be keeping me late a lot this week, are you sure you'll be fine on your own?"

My noise of affirmation was muffled by the foam in my mouth as I attempted to brush my teeth and hair at the same time. The first day had barely started and high school was already an exercise in multitasking.

"Yeah, no worries." I called back, spitting and rinsing before struggling out of my pajamas to slip my uniform on.

"...Mom? Is this the right uniform?" I asked moments later, staring at the mirror.

The one I was wearing was very, very different from the one I'd remembered my new high school having. For starters, I was pretty sure it had been blue with white trimming...

Instead, I was sporting a plain white blouse with a black collar, the short ends of my hair barely scraping the dark fabric, as well as a singular red ribbon. Those and the black skirt that came with it were high-quality materials, judging by how soft and light it felt on my skin. Nothing like the itchy fabric of the cheap uniform I'd sworn we'd picked up a few weeks prior.

She was sitting at the kitchen table as I walked in, perplexity written on my features.

"Of course," she said seriously, tightening the straps on her heels. Once she was done, I handed her the black blazer that she'd rested on the seat over. "We picked it up together, remember?"

"Right, but is this really the same one? I remembered it looking different..."

"Oh, Emiya. You'll need a better memory than that to get through the next three years." she shrugged on her jacket before heading out the door, purse swinging over her hip. "I'll see you later. Love you!"

"...Love you," I said, heading back to the bathroom to stare at my reflection for a few moments more. There was no way I'd actually managed to forget what my own high school uniform looked like... Right?

Right. That'd be crazy. Perhaps they had just mixed up my uniform at the cleaners and my mom had failed to realize it.

My focus shifted as I checked the time on my phone, realizing I would definitely be cutting it close if I didn't leave now. I rushed to my room to grab my book bag, then ran back to the kitchen to pluck a piece of fruit from the basket on the counter. A few minutes later, apple in hand, I was finally headed for the door. I'd be able to figure out the uniform situation once I got to campus. They'd have a spare for me to borrow at the least, hopefully.

Taking a bite of my apple, I slammed the front door open, ready to rush out. Instead, however, I was stopped in my tracks.

I stared.

A blonde, blue-eyed girl stared back.

"Finally! I was just about to knock." she said in an exasperated tone, hand on hip. Her presence was blocking my exit, forcing me to stand there and listen as she went on, "I ran into your mother on the stairs, by the way. She said you overslept. Really, on the first day?!"

The blonde was well, gorgeous, but there was something off about her eyes. It might've been a trick of the light, but it was as if she was completely pupil-less; really, her overall look was pretty unusual in general for Japan.

Not to mention the fact that she was a total stranger, yet she spoke to me like we were anything but.

"Um... What?" I asked, slow to the point. I felt the piece of apple I'd just swallowed stop in my throat, frozen in confusion.

"What do you mean, what?" The girl repeated blankly back.

I glanced down at her uniform. Strangely, she was wearing the exact same outfit I was. Black collar, white shirt, black skirt... Even down to a much more skillfully tied red ribbon.

Oh.

_Duh,_ I realized. The girl must have mistaken me for someone she knew from her school, thanks to the uniform mixup. Perhaps she was looking for a classmate who lived in the same apartment complex, and I'd simply been the one to slam their door open first...

"Sorry, you're at the wrong place," I said. "this is 2D, maybe you were looking for 2E instead? We get that sometimes—"

"Yeah yeah," the girl rolled her eyes before grabbing my arm, her grip like iron around my wrist. "enough with the stupid jokes. C'mon, Sakura's waiting for us downstairs."

"...What? Who?" My protests came out in squeaks as the surprisingly _strong_ girl pulled me out of my apartment and down the stairs to the first floor of the complex.

"Finally, Ino-pig!" I squeezed my eyes shut at the sight that greeted us once we'd reached downstairs, trying to comprehend the glimpse I'd just had of the pink-haired girl calling out towards us.

That wasn't normal, right? Hair dye wasn't allowed at most high schools in this area, so was it natural?

"Hello? What're you waiting for?" The pink-haired girl asked. Holding back her long, bright locks was a red headband, though some strands fell loosely around her green eyes.

_Green eyes?_ Yeah, this was getting weird. To top it all off, she too, was wearing the same uniform as well.

I shook my head.

"Look, I don't know who you guys think I am, but we don't go to the same high school."

"What? What're you talking about?" The blue-eyed girl and the pink-haired girl shared a glance. "This joke is getting weird."

The pink haired one's face fell. "Oh, this is about Saturday, isn't it?"

"What?" The other one looked scandalized. "You're still mad about that? But we apologized for forever!"

"I told you she'd still be mad!"

"No way, you told me you thought she was okay!"

"But I didn't really think it, I was just saying that to make you feel less shitty!"

"What the hell Forehead, you should've said so sooner! Who says I need you to make me feel better?!"

This was insane, and I no longer wanted any part of it. I slowly took my exit as they continued their heated argument, wondering all the while what the hell was happening today.

'

* * *

'

We'd only just moved to this neighborhood a few months ago, at the beginning of the year. Still, I was pretty sure I'd never seen this school here before.

It was beautiful. Majestic. Almost sparkling, even.

...And exactly where I could've sworn my _actual_ school was supposed to be.

After escaping the strange girls earlier this morning, I'd hurried down the path I'd known led to my new school, Sugi High. I had worked endlessly to try and make it into their scholarship program when we'd first found out we were moving to this neighborhood; it was everything I'd been hoping for, and now, standing in front of the address I'd made sure to memorize, I realized a very disturbing fact:

It was gone.

In its place was a much bigger, fancier version of my school—no, could this even be called a school? It looked like a contemporary manor. Ivy crawled up the white marble sides, its leaves basking in the morning light. The windows gleamed, clear as day, spanning several stories in wide expanse. The very size of the buildings and campus dwarfed Sugi High by four times, if we were being modest.

Like I said. It was practically sparkling.

Even the front courtyard was grandiose, lined with cherry blossom trees and a gleaming bleached brick path. I walked down it, silently marveling at the sights as I entered past the gates.

As I walked, I started to notice something even stranger; all the rest of the students were wearing the same uniform that I was, all black bottoms and white shirts, some with the black collar and ribbon for the girls.

The sheer unlikeliness of it all stopped me in my tracks. I stood there for a moment, wondering where my actual school _went_, let alone how I had accidentally stumbled upon the school my uniform's actual owner must be going to. That was when I noticed the crowd around me starting to grow, still staring at something off in my direction. It took a second before I realized the subject of their interest must be somewhere behind me. I turned to look, and that was when I found myself slamming into a crisp, white shirt.

My face was red as I shifted my gaze up, meeting eyes with a tall, dark-haired boy. He was tired-looking, yet still more handsome than anyone I'd ever witnessed in my entire life.

His hair was long, pulled into a low ponytail, thin strands framing his smooth face and accentuating a long, slim nose and sharp, deeply-set eyes.

I hated bumping into people as a rule, but somehow this was worse than usual.

"O-oh. Sorry!" I stumbled with my words, internally cursing my clumsiness. "I didn't know you were behind me."

He stood silent, holding his stare for a brief moment before taking a step away.

"...It's alright," he said. A second later he was walking off past me, back towards the school.

I wiped my sweaty palms on my skirt before glancing behind me, only to see the crowd of staring students had grown even large. There wasn't time to think much of it, however, as I power-walked out of the courtyard and back onto the city sidewalk. Something about that boy too, much like the girls I'd just seen, seemed far too familiar as well...

A few blocks later, I'd been wandering in circles for what felt like years, searching through my phone for my school's actual location.

There was nothing. I'd searched every variation of the words 'Sugi High School', and nothing, absolutely nothing, was coming up.

I'd only just searched it up last night, so how was it that it'd been erased from existence just this morning?!

"Maybe I'm really going crazy," I muttered to myself as I typed in my next search. Surely the 24th try would work...

"Hey you!"

There was a sudden, hard tug my shoulder. I fell back a step, realizing I'd had a foot off the curb and another on the road. A red car sped by, only a few inches from where I'd been standing.

"What, were you about to just walk into traffic on purpose?" the voice demanded. I looked to see it belonged to another dark-haired boy. His hair, though, weirdly enough, had the slightest of a blue sheen to it.

He was also incredibly good-looking as well. What was going on today?!

"...I wasn't."

"Looked like it. You shouldn't be running around on your phone like that."

"Oh, you're right." I blinked, still in a slight daze. "Thanks then."

He scoffed.

"You go to Konoha High too?" he said, glancing down at my uniform.

"Kono-what?"

"Yo Sasuke!" A blonde boy bounced up behind him. "You just suddenly ran off! What's-oh hey!"

I couldn't help but chuckle. "Sasuke? Who would name their kid-"

Wait. Sasuke?

Sakura.

Ino.

Oh god.

_Oh god no_.

No... It had to be a coincidence, right?

As I turned to gaze at the other boy that'd just arrived, all I could think was, _this can't be real._

Sky-blue eyes, blonde spikes, and whisker-like facial markings...

There was just no way.

I hadn't watched that show in _years_. It'd never even crossed my mind in that time until now.

Sasuke glared at me, crossing his arms. "Well, what's your name then?"

"...Emiya." I replied almost on instinct, as my mind was still preoccupied with trying to make sense of this all.

"Is that even a girl's name? Not much better." Sasuke smirked. Usually I would have a comeback for that, but at this moment I was questioning my existence in this universe. And the existence of the universe. And the universe in general.

Naruto's face inched closer to mine, curiosity painting his expression. "Oh hey, that uniform! Do you go to our school too?"

"No, I... I go to Sugi High, somewhere near here." I said. "the cleaners just mixed up my uniform, I think."

"Never heard of it. Then again, I live outside this area. Naruto would know." Sasuke said.

My heart stopped.

_Naruto. _It really was him?

What. Was. Happening?! How was this possible? Was this all just some sort of strange dream?

Naruto shook his head. "No way there's a Sugi High or anything like that in this ward. I definitely would've heard of it by now. Besides, it's impossible to get a Konoha High uniform without actually going there. They're strict about giving those out, ya know?"

Sasuke raised his brow in my direction. "You were mistaken, then?"

My jaw dropped as realization set in. They'd kept saying Konoha. _Konoha_? As in, the village from the series? Right, this was definitely a dream.

"Only one way to find out! I bet if we go to the school we can get things cleared up." Naruto jerked his head. "Let's hurry! We're going to be late!"

'

* * *

'

Sasuke and Naruto led me down the path back to the school where I'd thought Sugi High was supposed to be. I was starting to think this was either an insufferably long dream or at the very least, an elaborate prank concocted by some terrible, terrible person.

My suspicions of this only grew firmer when they led me to the faculty room, where even the cubicles were spotless and spacious, only to come face to face with a man with a familiar nose scar.

Iruka. Sure, why not add him to this mess too.

"He's the head of faculty here," Naruto grinned. "so he'll be able to help you sort everything out!"

The ponytailed man smiled, turning his computer monitor to face us. "Yup, you're on here Emiya. Your homeroom class is about to start, actually. Room 4A. I wouldn't be late if I were you. Your teacher is... Kind of a stickler about that stuff."

My heart stopped. No way. My name was really in their system? How was that possible?l

Naruto's grin was so large it looked like it could split his face. "Looks like you had the right uniform after all! And even better, you're in the same homeroom as Sasuke and me! C'mon, we should start heading over before we're late. Thanks Iruka!"

"Wait, no..." I couldn't get another word in before Naruto started pushing me out the door towards the class. Sasuke followed in suit, offering no help whatsoever.

After we made it to Room 4A, I quickly removed myself from the two before sitting down in the furthest available seat. The classroom's layout was at least familiar, though still much nicer than most and slightly more modern in design. The polished, wooden desks sat two people each, forming a total of six rows and four columns. The one I was currently occupying was closest to the windows and only two rows from the back. I'd chosen it in the hopes for some solitude to gather my bearings. Hopefully they would get the hint.

"Whoa, what's the rush?" Naruto asked, plopping down in a seat across the aisle to my right. I muffled a groan.

That was when I heard a small squeak. Turning, I saw a girl with blunt bangs and otherwise long hair seated behind me. Her pale eyes trembled as Naruto glanced in her direction.

I groaned. Based on looks alone, it was safe to assume this was none other than Hinata Hyuga.

"N-Naruto! He...Hello!"

Oh yeah, that was definitely Hinata.

Naruto gave a little wave back, before turning back in his seat to grin at Sasuke, who'd just taken the seat next to him. I froze, realizing to his front sat Sakura and Ino, who must have witnessed my entrance into the classroom with the boys, and were now staring my way with varying degrees of confusing.

Ino looked at me intently, never breaking eye contact as her fingers tapped rapidly away on her phone.

My phone buzzed. Of course. A text from Ino.

_Where'd you go this morning?! You've been acting really weird. Is everything okay? _

I frowned, deciding not to bother replying, when the buzzing happened again.

Sakura. I glanced up at her, noticing her tight smile.

_Are you sick, Emiya? If you feel bad, let me know, alright?_

How did these two even get my number?! And their names were even saved in my phone...

"Hey," A very pale girl with plain brown hair a shade close to mine, though hers was far longer, said from besides me. I hadn't even noticed her as I'd taken my seat, too distracted by my plight to distinguish who I was sharing half of my desk with.

I squinted at her. She was familiar too, but it was harder to identify her than it'd been with the others. I'd seen her face before, but not somewhere memorable...

"A few of us saw you in the courtyard this morning," her voice dropped to a whisper. "Did you really just bump into Itachi like that? Or was it on purpose? You can tell me, I won't judge. A lot of people would do anything for the chance to talk to him. You were really brave, in my opinion."

That was _Itachi?!_

"Uh no," I said, not bothering with whispering back. "that was genuinely an accident."

"Oh," her face fell, but she still extended her hand. "never mind then. By the way, my name's Yakumo."

"...Emiya," I said, shaking her hand. It felt a little strange to greet another student that way, but it was hardly the weirdest thing to happen today.

"Nice to meet you, Emiya. So," she said, "which track are you?"

"Track? What are tracks?"

"This homeroom class is only for first-year students on one of the advanced tracks." A tall, very long-haired boy appeared in front of me. "did you not take the evaluation to get in? You should at least know that much."

His pale eyes stared down, demanding and intense.

"I... uh..."

"Neji..." Hinata's quiet voice said from behind me. "You... You should ask more nicely..."

Neji only _hmmphed _in reply before taking his seat at the front.

"He's the student council president," Yakumo whispered. "the girl behind you's his cousin. Better get used to more of... That."

"Uh, right." I said, staring down at the sheet of paper in front of me. Iruka had given it to me, calling it my 'schedule'. Though I'd given up on trying to wake up from whatever dream this was at this point, the paper in front of me was especially perplexing. The chart was filled with art classes, similar to the ones I'd chosen for my original high school's schedule, yet there were strange red marks next to almost all of them. The current class we were in, homeroom, was one of the few exceptions. I glanced over the class instructor's name, not believing my eyes at the list of names I was seeing.

"Mr. Hatake's coming!" someone yelled from the front of the room where they'd been standing watch at the door. Those that weren't yet in their seats scrambled to take the nearest one. A boy with a bowl-cut sat down next to Neji. Even rom the back, I was sure that had to be Rock Lee. It just... It _had_ to be.

"I heard that." came a dry voice as a man with gravity-defying silver hair walked in, holding a small stack of books. I had no trouble identifying him as Kakashi, though he wasn't sporting the familiar blue headband and mask. Instead, he wore a hygiene mask to cover the lower half of his face, while openly showcasing the scar over his left eye. I wondered to myself what caused the scar, hoping beyond hope there were no Sharingans involved here. "It's the first day so I'm not taking attendance, but you guys better all be here. I don't accept tardiness."

"But wasn't he late himself?" I whispered to Yakumo, glancing at the clock. It was at least ten minutes after class was supposed to start. And on the first day, too.

"Teachers are held to a different standard than students," Kakashi said, not looking up from the book he'd opened on his desk. He took out a pen and starting to make marks. "what was your name? Brown-haired girl that likes to talk in class."

I watched as the room turned to face me. How was his hearing that good? We were in one of the last rows!

"Oh.. Um, my name is Emiya." I said, ignoring Neji's especially judgemental gaze.

"Alright, Emiya." Kakashi said, handing a stack of packets to Rock Lee, who'd happened to be sitting right in front of his desk. The boy eagerly started handing out the papers at a breakneck pace. "If you're looking to chat, why don't you go ahead and read out the testing schedule for the class?"

"Uh, okay," I said. As if on cue, a small packet flew onto my desk. Rock Lee winked, his smile momentarily blinding the room with his gleaming set of teeth, before handing Yakumo her packet and moving on.

I turned to the first page. "On July 10th, there will be first-round midterms for the athletics and science tracks-"

"No! That's the opening of Ichiraku's new shop! They're doing free ramen for the opening." Naruto cried from besides me. The room, again, turned to stare. "Man, I was planning to ditch class to go."

"Sorry to ruin your plans, Naruto," Kakashi said. His eyes were smiling, but his tone was cold. "but perhaps you should refrain from any more outbursts before I decide your time would be better spent in all-day detention."

Naruto grinned weakly, sliding down in his seat.

I sighed. This was going to be a long day.

'

* * *

'

"**Em-i-ya.**"

I froze where I sat.

Ino stood in front of my desk, her expression dark. I quickly averted her eyes, staring down at the reflective white floors.

The bell had just rang, ending homeroom, and after Naruto and Sasuke waved their goodbyes before heading to their next class, Ino had found her opening to pounce.

"Are you avoiding us?! You didn't even sit with us like we said we would!" Ino pouted. "And you didn't answer our texts! What's going on?"

"I..." Suddenly, I spotted an exit strategy, though he wouldn't have been my first choice. "Oh sorry, I need to talk to Neji really quick."

I practically sprinted to Neji's desk, though he was already packing up his bag to leave. "Hey, um, you're the class president, right? Can you help me figure something out?"

He stared blankly at me. "Go ahead."

I held out my schedule. "Um, I'm not really sure I understand my schedule... These red marks, what are they?" Ino and Sakura's gaze burnt at the back of my neck. Somehow I knew the two girls were already prepared to ambush me once I was done talking to Neji. Neji nodded, taking the schedule from my hand for a moment before returning it.

"As I'm sure you know, Konoha High is an elite private school with customized tracks to fit the more advanced student's talents. The red marks next to the class means you're in certain classes with the upperclassmen for art," Neji explained. "The rest of the schedule holds your regular classes, which will be with the rest of your grade."

"Advanced classes?"

"Yes. I'm assuming you're in the arts track, since all your marked classes are in that category."

I blinked. "Oh... I suppose that makes sense."

"Wait, Emiya, didn't you already know all that?" Ino suddenly interjected. "Me and Sakura are in the athletics track, remember? Though Sakura," Ino glared, "might switch into the science track by next semester."

"Oh, don't make such a fuss," Sakura said, rolling her eyes. "I was just considering it! It's not like I asked for this. Tsunade only said I'd have the choice because I scored so high in biology for the evaluation. I didn't even realize when I was taking it."

"Hmph. Everyone's going to make a fuss if we're not all in the same homeroom next semester, though."

"Try a huge fuss." Sakura said. "I don't even want to think about it." Ino stuck her tongue out at that.

"Same homeroom?" I asked.

"The first semester of the first year is where you have the chance to change tracks if you're not sure," Ino explained. "but after that, if you want a chance to win a scholarship to university, you have to stay in your same track for the rest of the two and a half years. So starting next semester, once you've chosen your track, we'll get new homeroom assignments with everyone in our permanent tracks."

Neji's eyebrow creased slightly. "Why are you even here if you don't know all this?"

"Hey, be nice to Emiya!" Sakura said. "Don't think you can talk to her like that just because you're a Hyuga!"

"My being a Hyuga has nothing to do with it. It's just that for someone attending our school, you would think she would have been more diligent."

"Why you—"

I stood back as Sakura and Ino started to bicker with Neji, realizing this was probably the best time to make another exit. Yet I couldn't. My feet were frozen to the floor as my mind scrambled to process everything I'd just heard. At least the art track made sense; I'd chosen the high school I _thought_ I'd be going to for their arts scholarship. This fancy school with its giant rooms and silky uniforms, however, were far from what I'd been expecting my high school life to turn out to be like...

Not to mention the whole fictional characters thing.

The worst part, however, was that it was getting harder and harder to believe this was all just a dream. I'd just gone through an entire class and several very lucid conversations without waking up, after all. That, in itself, was horrifying.

Before I knew it, I was being dragged to my next class by Ino and Sakura, who had somehow taken hold of my schedule. Even worse, our arms were linked at the elbows, the two girls forming a steel trap to prevent my escape as we charged down the hall. It was hard to tell if this was how they genuinely planned for us to walk together the rest of the school year.

"Ooh," Ino said, "we have literature together! Kakashi teaches that too, unfortunately."

"But Emiya's got her art classes tomorrow," Sakura sighed. "we won't be together during those."

"It's okay, we'll still have a few together today. Look, we all have P.E. next." Ino pointed.

I frowned. "I thought you guys were on the athletics track? Shouldn't you take... Advanced P.E.?"

"No, our advanced classes are more like boxing and martial arts," Sakura explained. "P.E.'s the really general stuff, just like running laps or volleyball and all."

"Yeah, it's more like a warmup to us," Ino said. "plus it's a way to measure yourself against other kids your grade who are doing the normal track. You'll have normal arts classes too, for that same reason."

"Oh." I commented. "That's... Kind of weird."

"Tell me about it." Sakura sighed. "Oh, here are the locker rooms. Did you bring your gym uniform?"

"...No?"

Ino clicked her tongue. "You can borrow my spare, but wow Emiya, you're forgetting a lot of stuff lately."

"Yeah, you still haven't told us about this morning," Sakura said as we walked into a room lined with tall, red lockers. It was the most modest room we'd been in, yet it was still almost the size of my entire apartment.

"Oh, um," As the girls released their grip, I took the spare uniform Ino had pulled out of her bag gratefully. It was a relief to see the gym uniform, at least, was still the standard white t-shirt and red gym shorts I would have expected. There was only room for so many surprises today. "I was just... A bit overwhelmed this morning. I'm sure things will be better tomorrow."

Things really would only be better if this did end up being a dream and I woke up tomorrow to my normal, non-Naruto'd world. But yeah. That seemed like a long shot now.

I dressed quickly, glancing at Ino and Sakura, who were just pulling on their t-shirts.

I froze, gaze locked on what looked like a small tattoo on the back on their shoulders. What concerned me, however, was how familiar the symbol was.

An open spiral with a small point at its left. The Konoha symbol.

Except... There were no villages or shinobi here, right? This was just a normal, if not strangely elite, high school.

So what exactly did that symbol mean here? And why would both girls have it permanently inked into their skin?

"Look," Ino said as we exited the locker room moments later, fully dressed. We had just made our way out the door when Ino pointed at the far end of the large gymnasium that had been connected to the locker room. "they're at it again."

I turned to look. Naruto and Sasuke were on the gym floor, running laps around a red-painted track field. It didn't seem that out of place, except for the fact they were the only ones running, and a small mob of onlookers was watching and cheering them on.

"Sasuke! You can do it!" I heard a gaggle of students cry, their high-pitched voices echoing in the spacious room. As we approached, I could see Naruto's grimace at the cheers, his feet a blur as he started to pick up his pace. Still, he was barely on Sasuke's tail when they reached the finish line, the dark-haired boy failing to contain a smirk as he crossed first.

"Better luck next time, idiot," Sasuke said, throwing Naruto a towel from a nearby chest. Naruto caught it with a huff.

"I'll be twice as fast as you by then, duck butt!"

"As if."

"Hey guys," Ino called out from where we'd walked up to the side of the track. Both boys turned to face her, much to the ire of the onlooking group. "you done being losers?"

"Naruto's never done with that." Sasuke commented, ambling over with a towel thrown over his shoulders. He glanced at my direction. "You're from this morning. How do you know Ino and Sakura?" Naruto joined the group as well, still grumbling at Sasuke's earlier joke.

"She's the one we were talking about!" Sakura chirped. "From earlier this year, remember?"

Sasuke's eyes widened in the slightest. "_This_ is her?"

"Whoa, whoa," Naruto interjected quickly. "Are you guys sure about this? She looks... Really normal."

I blinked, wondering briefly if I should be offended at that. Sure, I didn't have bright yellow or pink hair like the rest of them... But was that really such a bad thing?

"She's on the arts track. Of course she's normal," Ino rolled her eyes. "we already had to go through all of this with your dad, Naruto. It's a done deal."

Sasuke crossed his arms. "This is a dumb idea. She probably can't protect herself at all. They'll kill her easily at this rate."

I froze. "Kill?"

"Yeah, I don't think you guys realize how dangerous this is!" Naruto cried, waving around his arms. "What if the Sound—"

Sakura slapped a hand over Naruto's mouth, her voice a hushed whisper. "Don't you remember where we are, stupid? Don't say their names here!"

"Rifgt." Naruto said, the sound muffled. "Thorry."

I opened my mouth to question further, but was interrupted by a sharp, splitting sound. Turning, I looked to see a man donning a green tracksuit grinning in our direction as he lowered the offending whistle from his mouth.

"Oh no, I forgot Gai was teaching this class," Ino groaned. "we're done for."

"Alright kids, let's begin your first P.E. class of the year! I was thinking, why don't we start out with a relay race, followed by rope climbing, and then a youthful game of dodgeball..."

'

* * *

'

The rest of the day was relatively uneventful, especially considering the fact it would be hard to outdo the excruciating workout Gai had put us through. The difference between students on the athletics tracks and others was made clear as I found myself constantly running off to the side of the track or shimmying down the rope just for the chance to catch my breath. Sakura and Ino, however, had barely broke a sweat by the end. I wonder if the system was designed that way just to make us feel bad, seeing the kids on the other tracks struggle as we try to compete with them in those same subjects.

Though the rest of my classes had gone far more smoothly, by the end of the day it was hard to ignore the reality of this situation when all my classes were taught by the jounin I'd known from the series. Having Asuma as my history teacher was something I'd hardly get used to.

"Sorry, Ino and I have to stop by a club meeting for a second." Sakura said apologetically as we exited our final class. "But we can still walk home together if you're willing to wait up a little bit."

"It's fine," I said. "I think I want some time to just... Think."

Ino blinked. "Think? About what?"

"Uh, just... First day at a new school. A lot to process."

Ino and Sakura exchanged another glance. Ino turned to me in an attempt to prod further when Naruto came running up.

"Hey!" he said. "You two coming?" that was when he noticed me. "Oh hey! Your name's Emiya, right?"

"Yeah," I nodded.

Naruto beamed, raising a friendly fist as greeting. "I'm Naruto! I don't think we introduced ourselves this morning. You need anything, just let me know, okay? I'm your guy!"

"Oh... Okay, yeah. Thanks, Naruto." I returned his fist bump gently. The kindness of the gesture wasn't lost on me, especially considering we had only met today.

"Seriously though, if anyone gives you any trouble at all, just say the word! I'll take care of them, easy." He winked, before addressing Ino and Sakura. "I'll see you guys at the meeting, okay? Don't be late, Kakashi's running this one. You know how he is."

"Got it," Sakura said as Naruto left, turning back towards Ino. "Naruto's right, we should head there soon. Sorry again, Emiya."

"It's okay, there's always tomorrow. I... Appreciate you guys hanging out with me today." I said, surprised at my own words as they left my mouth. It was true, though. If I woke up to this being a dream tomorrow, it was nice to have at least gone through today with some friends. Even if almost nothing they'd said had made a lick of sense.

This brought a smile to the girl's faces, who waved goodbye as they left.

I stood there at the gate of the school, just mulling things over, when a tall shadow was cast over me.

"Oh, hello," I said, recognizing the tired face from this morning. Now that I knew it was Itachi, I wasn't sure how I missed it the first time around.

"Hello," he spoke back simply. We stood there awkwardly for a second, before he finally moved to walk past me.

"There have been some robberies in this area as of late. You should pay close attention to your surroundings when walking home tonight." Itachi said solemnly, before disappearing out the gates and around the corner.

"W-what...? Okay, thanks, I guess..." I started to say, even though he was already gone from view.

"Why were you talking to my brother?" A sudden voice spoke from behind me. I turned to see that Sasuke had been standing behind the gate post, listening in on the conversation.

He wore a frown that only deepened as we made eye contact.

"I..."

"He's bad news. You should stay away."

"What? Your brother?" I knew in the series he'd killed all their family, but there was no way Itachi had managed that here, right? Surely he'd be rotting in jail if he had, not traipsing around campus in a school uniform.

"Trust me," he said. "stay away."

I rubbed at the back of my neck, trying to circulate warmth. I'd cut my hair not long ago at the start of spring, so the cool air now bit angrily at my nape.

"Um, I mean, I can try, but I don't really—"

"Look," he interrupted. "I don't think it was a good idea for Sakura and Ino to tell you everything." Though his voice mild, his gaze was laser-focused on mine as he spoke. "But I hope they made the right decision. If not... Well, it'll be you that pays for it, not us."

I stared as he walked away, jaw dropping at the thinly-veiled threat.

"What... _What is going on_?!"

'

* * *

'

A/N: I've been really wanting to write this one for a while. This is lightly inspired by a Korean webtoon, but basically this is my first try at a romance and AU in a Naruto-ish world. Enjoy!

Also, I played around with some ages here, so all of the Konoha 11 are the same age and grade, and therefore in the same class. Shisui and Itachi are both only 2 years older than the main cast. Everyone else mentioned for now, should be their canon ages.


	2. Chapter 2: Our Own Saviors

Stranger Days

'

* * *

Chapter 2: Our Own Saviors

* * *

'

Three days later and I still hadn't woken from this dream.

That was to say, if this even was a dream. I was definitely starting to suspect it wasn't.

To reiterate, it was earlier this week when I'd stumbled upon my new life in a world where characters from Naruto filled the halls of my school. Little more had been explained since then. I'd searched up the Naruto series on my phone several times in an attempt to make sense of this all, only to find it no longer existed in this world. There were no traces of the series on the internet, tv, or mangas. Nothing. And to make matters worse, all signs pointed to the fact I was now living in a city called 'Konoha', a name much like the village from Naruto, despite the fact that was not the case just last week.

Yet the name now lined signs on bakeries, parks, shopping malls, and even the school I was attending.

Then there was the more immediate issue at hand. It was becoming clearer that the people around me had recently let me in on some guarded secret of theirs, but that had been to the old Emiya; the one from before my current self had woken up in this world._ I_ had no recollection of being told any such thing. Even so, every now and then I would catch snippets of conversations between my new classmates, spoken in menacingly hushed tones. It gave me the feeling that I was missing something else here, and who knows what would happen if I didn't realize it in time.

With a wary mind, I attempted to get at least _some_ answers from my shifty new friends.

"So, what's this big mountain trip about?" I asked. Ino's fingers froze in my hair, mid-braid. Sakura looked up from where she'd been reviewing her history notes.

Ino and Sakura had pestered the students that'd sat in front of me into switching seats with them, though I'd insisted they leave Yakumo be in her seat besides me. Since Kakashi regularly showed up at least fifteen minutes late, however, my deskmate usually spent her free time before homeroom in the back with the other art track students. And for some reason, I'd spent that time yesterday getting my makeup done by Ino, and the day before that, my nails painted by Sakura. By now I'd learnt not to reject Ino and Sakura's attentions, or risk an explosive argument.

It was strange, how trying to get along with these people had become routine.

"W-what are you talking about? What trip?" Sakura laughed nervously, in answer to my earlier question. The topic of the trip had caught my attention only because it was the only one the girls seemed adamant about avoiding around me. They weren't all too good at it, though. I'd caught onto enough to know where to start my line of questioning, at least.

Whatever it was, it must have also meant something to Naruto. He managed to pry his eyes from his handheld game long enough to shoot me an inquisitive look from his seat to my right. Even Sasuke glanced up from his phone, leaning back in his chair to watch.

"The one you guys kept whispering about." I replied blithely. "At lunch yesterday, in the locker room, in the bathroom... All the times you thought I wasn't listening, basically. You guys do know those stalls aren't soundproof, right?"

"Emiya," Sakura stole a look around the room, but the nearest students were chattering amongst themselves a few rows back, mostly out of hearing range. "we talked about this Saturday. We really can't do anything about it."

"Look, we get that you're still mad we broke our promise," Ino added. "but our hands are tied..."

Promise? What promise?

"Besides, we can't just bring you along last minute. It's this weekend, and it's not even our place we're staying at." Sakura finished, glancing at Naruto, who puffed out his cheeks in thought before shrugging.

"Why not let her come? So long as she keeps close to us she should be fine." he said. "Our security's good, even if the location's iffy. We just have to make sure she doesn't wander off."

I blinked. "No, I wasn't asking to... Wait, you're going too?"

"Why wouldn't he? It's his house." Sasuke scoffed.

"Well, techhhnicallyyy it's my godfather's, but he lets us use it freely."

Sasuke shook his head, the dissapproval rolling off of him in waves. "Are you sure about this, Naruto? We don't know her very well."

"Hey. I'm right here."

"Right." Sasuke turned towards me. "We don't know you very well."

"...Thanks." In my defense, it was hard to come up with a proper retort when I couldn't even follow the original conversation.

"Ino and Sakura said my dad already gave the okay, so I trust her." Naruto said, waving off the argument. "Besides, now that she knows, she's one of us now, right?"

"Right," Sakura nodded. "and she was only mad before because she didn't want to be left behind while she thought we were being put in danger. It's not like she had any ill intentions."

Oh no, now I was really not following. What _danger_ was she talking about? Hopefully she meant the easily avoidable mountain lion kind, and not any other...

"Yeah, Sakura and I can vouch for her! We spent spring break with her after her mom helped out my dad, remember?" Ino clapped. "Don't worry about it, Sasuke. We know what we're doing."

_What...? Mom?_ Even _she_ was involved in all of this madness?! My normal, everyday, not-a-Naruto-character mom?! That was definitely a conversation we would need to have once I got home.

"Fine," Sasuke grumbled, leaning forward again in his seat. "but I'm not wasting my time on guard duty during this trip. She's you guy's responsibility now. You too, Naruto."

"Wait, wait, wait a minute. I don't even like mountains," I said. "I didn't mean—"

"So it's settled then!" Naruto grinned, jumping up onto his chair and raising his fists in the air. "I'm super pumped up now, guys! Wait until you see the hot springs, man, oh, and the tea fields! This trip'll be ama—"

Sasuke slapped his foot off the seat, causing the whiskered boy to fall with a yelp. "It's not a vacation, idiot. This is for work."

As I watched Naruto pick himself up from where he'd splattered on the floor, I realized I truly had no idea what I had just gotten myself into.

'

* * *

'

My first painting class on the advanced arts track was next for today. I silently prayed that it would be less... Chaotic, than the morning had been. There was a chance at least, right?

I walked in, taking in the giant room and its sprawling rows of easels, most of them already occupied with a canvas and a student sitting at it's front. A small stage and podium stood at the front, a clear vase of flowers already arranged atop its center.

"Emiya!" Yakumo waved from her seat across the room, again the second from the window. I smiled, walking across the front of the stage before taking my seat at the first available canvas next to her right.

"There sure are a lot of people here," I mentioned, opening up the paints laid out in front of me. "I don't think I've ever been in a class this big."

"That's because it's one of the general elective options for upperclassmen, _and_ the painting class for the advanced arts track." Yakumo explained, already prepping her brushes. "Everyone signs up for this time slot too, since Ms. Yuuhi's pretty famous."

"Sorry," A voice spoke from my right. "did she say your name was Emiya?"

I looked to see a wavy-haired boy smiling brightly in my direction. His elbow rested on his knee as he leaned in, not seeming to notice how the movement set off a series of coughs behind us.

I wasn't so blissfully unaware, however, as I glanced behind us to find the source of the sound, only to make eye contact with a group of glaring girls.

Alright then.

"...Um, yes." I said, shifting uncomfortably in my seat. "That's me."

"Nice to meet you, Emiya. My name's Shisui. Ino and Sakura told me a little about you at the meeting on Monday."

"Meeting..." I asked, before it clicked. Did he mean that club meeting they'd attended? I'd never even thought to ask what club that was for.

Shisui nodded, absently swirling a paintbrush into a cup of water. "I was surprised to hear they'd let an outsider in. But I guess you made the cut, huh?"

"I... I guess?"

"Well then, Emiya. Welcome aboard." His smile didn't falter as he turned back in his seat, flicking the last of the water off the brush before setting it down on the easel's ledge.

Yakumo immediately pulled me towards her, mouth at my ear as she whispered, "That's Shisui Uchiha," her eyes were wide as she continued, "record holder for both track and baseball, and one of the most popular third-years at our school. Did you even know that?!"

Well, the only Shisui Uchiha I'd known was from the series where he was pretty dead, so no, I didn't.

"Is that why he's got all those angry fangirls?" I asked, watching them from my peripherals. They'd stopped fuming at my conversation with Shisui once it'd ended, though I could swear one of them had kept shooting daggers my way when she thought I wasn't looking.

"All the Uchihas here have their... 'admirers'," Yakumo shrugged. "as well as the Hyugas. That Uzumaki kid too, though I bet his dad's got even more than him."

Ah yes, the Minato conundrum. From what I'd heard it sounded like he was alive, unlike in the original series, and played an important role in all the mystery that was going on. What role exactly, I didn't know.

The room grew silent, the sudden shift in volume accenting the slow creak of the room's heavy door. All chatter died down as the figure of one Uchiha Itachi stepped into the room. I quirked a brow as I witnessed a girl sitting in the front holding her breath while she watched him enter, hands over her heart.

"Speaking of fangirls..." Yakumo muttered to me quietly, her voice the only sound in the entire room, as all the other occupants refused to break the silence.

Well, all except one.

"Yo, Itachi!" Shisui called, standing to wave. Itachi's eyes immediately darted in our direction, as did the rest of the class's.

I watched as Itachi made his way over to his cousin, swiftly taking a seat to Shisui's right, only two places down from where Yakumo and I were sat.

Yakumo now looked even paler than usual, trembling to pick up her brush as Kurenai made her entrance shortly after.

"Good morning class," the red-eyed woman spoke. "I hope you've all had a productive vacation, now—"

"Ms. Yuuhi," one of the girls behind me said, raising her hand, "can I switch seats? I can't see very well from back here."

Kurenai nodded. "That's fine, there's a few free ones left in the front."

"If it's possible, I would actually prefer that one," the girl said, pointing to where I was seated.

I blinked.

"Wait, what?" I said.

"I just," the girl blushed and giggled, glancing at Shisui and Itachi, "think the angle would be better from there. For my art, you know?"

Yakumo spun around in her chair, pointing an accusatory brush at the girl. "You liar, you've been sitting there all morning, you could've just asked Emiya if you wanted to trade seats earlier. Now you're going to try to bully her into it by getting Ms. Yuuhi involved?"

"It's okay, Yakumo, we can trade." I said. "I don't really care where I sit—"

"NO." Yakumo said. "We're not giving it up to that loser!"

"There's an empty seat to Itachi's right," Shisui interjected. "how about that?"

The girl's jaw dropped. "R...really?" she whispered reverently, gaze darting to Itachi. "I can?!"

Itachi shifted his head slightly to glance at the girl. The second their eyes met she gulped, shoulders shaking all of a sudden. "Oh, um, actually, maybe I shouldn't... I was wrong, this seat's fine."

I could practically see the fight die down in her as the girl slumped back in her seat. Yakumo crossed her arms with a _humph_, satisfied with her victory.

"What, do people usually not sit next to him?" I whispered to Yakumo.

"Are you kidding? Nobody's ever that ballsy." Yakumo whispered back. "Itachi's a legend at this school."

"In a good way? Wouldn't people want to hang out with him, then?"

Yakumo frowned. "Actually, there have been some, uh... Pretty dark rumors circulating about him lately. But they're just rumors. You know what they say, birds peck at the best fruit."

"I guess..."

"Alright kids, settle down," came Kurenai's authoritative tone. "if anyone else has a issue with their seat, you can switch them for next class. Now, let's get started with today's lesson."

'

* * *

'

"Emiya, wait!"

Class had just ended, but Shisui waved me back down into my seat even after I'd already stood to leave. "Have you and Itachi met yet? Stay back for a minute and I'll introduce you two."

I felt a room full of glares on me at Shisui's loud request, some of the other students pausing in their exit to participate. Yakumo said a quick, "see you later," before heading out herself, throwing the onlookers a scathing look of her own as she did.

"Hi, Itachi," I said, wanting to get this over with quickly, the stares burning holes into my back. Really, all this over some guys? "I'm Emiya, nice to meet you."

"...Emiya," Itachi said lowly. For the first time, I noticed how fatigued his voice sounded when he spoke. "Sakura and Ino have spoken highly about you."

"Yeah, you know, I keep hearing tha—"

I didn't get to finish my sentence before Itachi abruptly stood up to leave, bag in hand. Boy, I sure got interrupted a lot here.

"Wait!" Shisui cried, "is that it?! You guys should talk some more! She's one of us now, you know."

"Supposedly." Itachi said, not even glancing back as he made his way to the door. "Only time will tell if she decides to stay on this path or not. Just like with the rest."

I mean, I kind of wanted out already, even though I didn't know out of _what, _exactly.

"...Aw man, I really thought he might warm up to having a new member at our school." Shisui pouted. "Sorry about that, Emiya."

"It's fine," I said, looking around the room. We were now the only ones left, the rest having made their own swift exits right before Itachi's.

"I only chose this elective for him, you know. It's not like I'm not any good at painting or anything." Shisui said, crossing his arms. "But Itachi's actually pretty into this stuff, plus I heard Yuuhi was the best of the best. Though he'd have never taken this class if I didn't make him, that stubborn guy."

"Why wouldn't he want to take this class if he's interested in it?" I asked, already shouldering my book bag. Shisui stood to leave as well, forcing me to awkwardly step aside so he'd have room to walk out besides me.

"His dad doesn't approve of him taking art classes," Shisui shrugged as we made our way down the hall. "if you met him, you'd know he's a... Difficult man to please. Itachi's pretty obedient too, which doesn't help."

Huh. So Fugaku was still a hardass here too, then? I guess I shouldn't be surprised.

Shisui was heading to lunch as well, so we continued our walk to the cafeteria together before parting ways at the entrance. He called a quick goodbye before running off to a table on the furthest side of the massive cafeteria to the left, as Ino and Sakura waved me over to their spot in the lunch line near the front.

"Ugh, finally," Ino said. "I thought classes would never end."

"They didn't," Sakura reminded her. "We still have half the day left."

Ino's groan deepened as the cafeteria worker passed her a pre-packaged salad. I grabbed a hot plate of curry and Sakura a sandwich, before we headed towards our usual table on the right. Sasuke and Naruto had already taken their seats by the time we'd arrived, already bickering about who'd done better on a recent class assignment.

As we ate, it didn't go unnoticed to Ino and Sakura how I was met with scornful looks for the entirety of the lunch period.

"What the hell?" Ino said, glancing our perimeter. "Are they looking at you, Emiya?"

I shrugged. It was hard to be sure if the unwarranted attention was thanks to my brief conversations with Itachi and Shisui, or even the fact that someone as normal-looking at myself was eating with two of the prettiest girls in school—not to mention the apparently widely-admired boys sitting to my front. According to what I'd heard, these two boys in particular had fans in legions. Nobody had yet to tell me why, however, though based on their looks alone that could've been it. When it came down to it, they were both decently intelligent, accomplished athletes, and overall quite handsome for their age.

_Though their manners could use some work_, I thought as I watched Naruto throw a noodle in the air and catch it with his mouth, much to the rest of the table's chagrin.

I couldn't help but stare as Sasuke sipped quietly at his tomato soup while Naruto downed his ramen lunch. It felt a little weird, watching them eat in person instead of through a computer screen. Still, I didn't see what all the fuss was about; in this world, they were just normal high school boys.

"We have math together next," Sakura said, changing the subject. "did you guys finish the homework for that yet?"

I shook my head. "Just barely. I hate math."

"Sasuke's pretty good, if you need a tutor," Naruto grinned, slapping the other boy on the back. Sasuke glared, flicking his napkin at the blonde.

"I'm busy this week," Sasuke said. "ask me again after the mountain trip."

"Right, about that trip—" I started to say, but was again, promptly interrupted.

"See you, Emiya!" Shisui called as he and Itachi walked by on their way out of the cafeteria. Itachi paused, giving the slightest of nods before following his cousin out of the room. Sasuke glared as they left, while Sakura facepalmed.

"That guy..." she muttered. "But wait, since when did you know him, Emiya?"

"I have painting with him. And Itachi." I threw a furtive glance at Sasuke, whose expression darkened. "Um, but why're they leaving lunch so early? We just got here."

"They're third-years, so they probably have some sort of entrance exam prep during lunch." Ino explained. "But wait, you met Itachi? Did you talk to him?"

"Yeah."

The table shifted to turn and stare at me.

"Wow, no wonder everyone's been looking at you funny." Sakura said. "Most people nowadays are too scared to go up and talk to him."

"What? Why?"

"You haven't heard the rumors?" Ino asked, before clasping her hands over her own mouths. She turned to Sasuke. "Sorry, I didn't mean to..."

"It's fine," Sasuke said, looking away. His face was still turned as he stood, taking his tray with him. "I'm done with lunch now. I'll see you guys in class."

An long silence now settled on the group.

"Um... Did I... Do something wrong?" I asked, rubbing the back of my neck.

"No no, of course not Emiya. It's really nothing. Just rumors, anyways. Only the Uchihas can really say what happened that day, and they like to keep that stuff under wraps." Sakura shrugged, before glancing guiltily at Sasuke's now-empty seat. "Itachi's really quite nice when you get to know him. Don't let what people say get to you."

"Yeah, people are just dumb." Ino chimed in. "They used to be scared of Shisui too, by association, but he's so friendly that everyone eventually decided he was harmless."

"If only they knew." Naruto chuckled.

"Knew what?" I asked, but my question was drowned out by Ino and Sakura's own agreeable laughter.

'

* * *

'

A few classes later, I was standing right outside the school gates, staring at the construction happening on the other side of the road. That harsh cacophony of moving concrete and machinery had been there since the beginning of the year as well, right when we first moved to the neighborhood.

How could so many things be the same, yet all so different at the same time?

Sakura and Ino had insisted I wait for them after our last class today, promising that they would only need a few minutes to drop off their assignment before they could meet me at the gates to walk home. I'd discovered quickly that the two girls lived only across the street from my apartment complex, hence why we now spent our days walking to and from school together.

Sighing, I threw my bag down on the floor before rubbing my eyes. The cherry blossom trees lining the courtyard were sublime, but they sure didn't do any favors for my pollen allergies.

"Are... Are you okay?" A meek voice spoke from besides me. I turned to see Hinata, half-peeking out from behind a post at the gate.

"Oh, hey. Yeah, I'm fine. Thanks for asking." I paused. "Hinata, right?"

"Yes... Had we already introduced ourselves?" Hinata said, lowering her eyes. "I'm afraid I don't recall meeting before..."

Good, because it wasn't like I'd remember either. "No, Yakumo told me your name. She's the one who sits next to me in homeroom."

"Oh yes, Yakumo." Hinata smiled sheepishly. "She's been in the same classes as the rest of us since kindergarten."

"She has?" I asked. Yakumo hadn't mentioned that. "Oh. Cool. Well, my name's Emiya."

"It's... Nice to meet you, Emiya."

"Likewise." I smiled back, before returning to rub at my eyes. Stupid pollen.

Silence stretched between us for a moment as the long-haired girl toed the floor with her shoes. Okay, well, maybe this was my chance. Perhaps I could get some answers out of Hinata, at least.

"Hey, so, do you know what the deal is with all of...Them?" I asked.

"...Them?"

"Yo, Hyuga!"

Hinata's fingers flew to her mouth. I groaned. It was always _something_.

A buff-looking redhead ran over, his face a song of rage. "Your goddamned cousin gave me another citation! I'm already halfway to suspension by now, thanks to him." he growled, grabbing Hinata by the collar.

I stared. Was he...? Really? This... This actually happened in real life?

"Look, freaky-eyes, you tell your cousin to drop the citation or else I'll—"

"Hey!" I yelled. "Let her go." Hinata's eyes were wide as she grabbed for the boy's hands. She paused as I spoke, throwing me a confused look.

I glanced around, only to see the other students backing up at least a six-foot distance. Great. No help from them, then.

"We're on school grounds," I told the boy. "If you're already on your way to suspension, you could get a lot worse for harassing a student on campus."

"Check again," he said, eyes darting to the gate on our left. I followed his gaze.

Oh, right. We were technically right outside of the gate, so not actually on school grounds.

"...Still," I said, embarrassed at the oversight. "my mom's a lawyer, and she'd probably tell you that these kids—" I gestured to the rapidly retreating crowd of students in the courtyard, only to realize scarcely a few students were left watching. Really, was this guy so scary that they'd _all_ had to run? "...These kids are witness enough to get you in enough trouble to last you for a while."

"I... I can't afford to get into any more trouble," The redhead said, the fire in his eyes dying down. "my record's already really bad from middle school..."

"...Right, so... Just put the nice girl down and we can all just walk away from this, no hard feelings? This way, nobody gets into any trouble, and everyone's happy."

The boy's brow creased as he paused, before finally loosening his grip on Hinata's shirt. She maintained eye contact with me as she fell to her feet.

"Wha... What are you doing?" Hinata asked, her dark collar slightly crumpled.

"What do you mean, what am I doing? I'm saving our butts!" I whispered back as another white-haired boy approached from the direction of the courtyard.

"Hey Jugo!" the newcomer said, slapping the redhead on the back. "What's all this fuss about?"

"Stay out of it, Suigetsu." Jugo growled. "This doesn't concern you."

Okay wait, I totally knew those names. That was not good news.

"Uh," I turned to Hinata. "maybe we should go?" I grabbed her elbow, slowly attempting to inch away from the boys.

It didn't go unnoticed. "Hey! Stop right there," Suigetsu snapped, "and explain to me what you did to so upset my friend here."

"_We_ didn't do anything, he's the one that started the trouble."

"Yeah?!" Suigetsu's expression soured, glaring heatedly in my direction. I glared back, crossing my arms.

"Yeah! But we worked it out, so why don't you just... Cool off, okay?"

"Or what? You think you got a right to be giving orders out here, little girl?" Suigestsu smirked, pointing a finger in my face. "You have no idea how this place works, do you? Jugo and I, we got friends in high places. You could be dead by this time tomorrow if we wanted."

That was when I felt a sudden itching in my eye. All the staring-off had left my corneas defenseless to the high pollen count in the air. I blankly blinked out a few tears, hoping that would wash the irritants away.

This, apparently, was the wrong move.

Hinata gasped as soon as she noticed my tear-streaked face. There was no time to explain, however, before she was pulling me back behind her. She followed that action with a spin on her heel, delivering an open-palmed blow to Suigetsu's chest. From the expressions on our faces, I assumed this came as a shock to all of us except Hinata; though of course, mostly Suigetsu. He choked out a yelp as he was propelled back at least half a foot, before falling to the ground with an _oomph. _

"...What?" I said, not processing what I'd just saw.

"Stay behind me, Emiya!" Hinata called as Jugo came charging at her with a roar. Her arm shot out and grabbed him by the him by the neck, before slamming him into the sidewalk with her elbow.

Suigetsu got back up, hands balled into fists, ready to strike. Hinata was faster, however, kicking out his feet beneath him. He fell to the floor again, given barely a second before Hinata was on top of him, yet again delivering the same open-palmed blows to his face and chest.

The white-haired boy howled out in pain as Jugo appeared behind them holding up a thick tree branch, its base the width of his own bicep. He must've gone and pulled it off one of the trees in the courtyard while Hinata was occupied with clobbering his friend.

Jugo raised the makeshift weapon right above where the girl knelt, aiming to strike her in the head. I had just opened my mouth to cry out a warning when Hinata's palm spun out again, knocking Jugo so far back past the gates, he actually hit one of the cherry blossoms back towards the school.

Hinata paused to pick up the branch Jugo had dropped, calmly examining the bark for a moment before turning to thrash Suigetsu with it.

"Emiya?!" I turned to see Sakura running up through the gates, Ino not far behind. "What's going on? And why's Hinata beating up that dude with... Is that a tree branch?"

"Oh, thank god you guys are here." I said. "These two were giving us crap and I thought I needed to help Hinata but I guess not, you know I think I misunderstood the situation because she's so shy—"

"Ohhhh," Ino said, surveying the scene. "Well, nothing we can do now. Those boys are dead."

"Wait, what? No, we need to stop her—"

"It'll be alright, Emiya." Sakura said, placing a hand over my eyes. "Just don't look."

The sounds of anguished screaming and bludgeoning filled the air.

"...I can still _hear_ it!"

'

* * *

'

A/N: Had this and the last chapter written up already while I was planning out the outline, so I decided to post it early! Update schedule from now on will most likely be monthly though, same as my other story.


	3. Chapter 3: Further Questions

Stranger Days

'

* * *

Chapter 3: Further Questions

* * *

'

"There, there," Shisui said, kneeling down to pat me on the head. "don't worry. It's all okay now."

I twitched. There were two piles of purple flesh rotting to our right. It was not _okay_.

"I... I think she killed them." I whispered, horrified. I was surely a sore sight, my back pressed up against the gate post as I attempted to breathe in through my nose and out of my mouth.

It was unclear, the exact moment I'd begun feeling nauseous. Perhaps it was when the smell of blood first started to fill to air.

Shisui had been the one called to the scene by Ino and Sakura to deal with the aftermath of Hinata's... outburst, for some reason. He'd swiftly ended the violent beatdown by pulling the girl away from the two boys (who'd long lost consciousness), before rolling their battered bodies over towards the gate where I was now sat. Ino had then been delegated the task of calming Hinata down as Sakura tended to the wounded; right after giving out these directions had been when Shisui had first glanced my way, finally noticing my presence huddled up against the post.

"Unfortunately, no," he said, expression honest. "she can't get away with that so close to school. If you'd really like them dead though, you could ask her nicely."

"_No! _No, that's alright. I'm good." I took a deep breath. "It's all good."

"Are you sure? Because it's not har—"

"Um, I'm pretty sure!" Shisui was a nice guy, but sometimes it was hard to tell when he was joking. Sakura looked up from the roll of gauze she'd been taping around Suigetsu's forehead.

"Here, Emiya, maybe this'll help," she said, pulling a mylar blanket from god-knows-where over my shoulders. I frowned at the reflective material.

"Sakura."

"Yes?"

"... Is this a first-aid blanket?"

"Yup," Sakura said seriously, before returning to mend the boy's wounds, her face a mask of concentration. "it's designed for people that have just gone through a shocking or traumatic experience. I asked Shisui to pick one up from the nurse's office on his way here."

"I'm not traumatized, I'm just—surprised!" I shouted that last part when Hinata suddenly appeared before me, looking close to tears. Ino was fast behind her as Shisui raised a brow in the blonde's direction.

"I tried to stop her," Ino shrugged, "but... She said she really wanted to apologize, so..."

Hinata bowed her head, voice barely above a whisper. "I'm... I'm sorry Emiya! I know I went too far, it's just that... When I saw they made you cry..." she started pressing her pointer fingers together as she continued, "But then I must have scared you too, so that makes me just as bad..."

My gaze fell on her hands as she brought them together. They were still covered in blood. _None _of it was her own.

Sakura glanced up from her work at this. "Wait, what? You started crying? _Before_ the fighting?"

"No! I wasn't crying!" A part of me still felt bad that Jugo and Suigestsu had to go through all of that just because of my hay fever. My eyes darted up to glance at Hinata, who gave me a watery smile when our gazes met. I tried not to gulp.

The creak of the gate caught our attention as we watched Neji briskly approach our group. "Hinata," he spoke low a deep frown on his face.

"Oh look. It's your cousin." I said immediately. Neji didn't know it yet, but he was officially my guardian angel of getting me out of unwanted conversations.

The boy gestured to Hinata once he'd made it to her side. She nodded, flashing me one last glance before standing to greet her cousin.

"Wow," Ino commented, crossing her arms. Her eyes landed on the two unconscious boys as she continued, "usually it takes a lot to bring that side of Hinata out."

"The crowd was smart to get out of here on time, though," Shisui commented. "can't tell you how many idiots I've seen don't know to run when a Hyuga starts fighting."

Wait, what? "Wasn't... Wasn't everyone backing away because they're afraid of Jugo?"

"No," Ino laughed. "it was definitely because of Hinata. When that girl fights, there's _always_ some sort of big mess to clean up afterwards. Jugo and Suigestu are normal first-years too though, so they probably didn't know about her yet."

Oh. So this wasn't the first time. _Great._

"S-sorry!" Hinata suddenly turned and bowed her head, having overheard Ino's statement. Neji crossed his arms, evidently irritated at the interruption. "I... I know we're supposed to tone it down, now that we're reforming... But I'm not as good as Neji yet, so my technique isn't quite as... polished..."

"It's okay. Despite the lack of control, you're still one of our best." Shisui grinned. "Those Hyuga moves are crazy, though. I wish they weren't a family secret; I'd love to learn some of it for myself."

"It is not as if you'd share any of the Uchiha family's secrets with us in return," Neji pointed out.

"Ouch. True, though."

"Hinata has informed me this incident was caused by a citation I had given," Neji said, his attention suddenly directly at me. "though I do not regret doling out the punishment I deemed appropriate for that boy's conduct, it seems there was an oversight on my part. Our reputation wasn't enough to stave off situations like this like I'd expected."

I wasn't sure what reputation he was talking about, but it sure sounded like this was Neji's roundabout way of apologizing. I smiled, opening my mouth to reply when I was interrupted by the sound of footsteps behind me.

"That's why I've been saying, we need to make the Alliance known sooner rather than later." a deep voice suddenly spoke. I turned to see Sasuke and Naruto, who'd walked over holding a stretcher. Sasuke also addressed Shisui with his next statement. "Anyways, let's give Sakura a break. We'll get these guys to Tsunade, you can call Kakashi and get him to bring a sheet to cover up this mess." Shisui nodded, standing up and pulling out his phone before walking off to make his call quietly.

"Yo!" Naruto waved to the rest of us, one hand releasing the handle of the stretcher. Sasuke glaring as the entire thing tilted on Naruto's side. "You guys alright?"

"Yeah!" Sakura called back. "But Emiya's a little, uh," she turned to me. "shaken?"

"Surprised," I corrected, though she was probably more accurate. Still, it hurt to admit, so instead I changed the subject quickly. "anyways, what are you guys doing here?"

"Shisui called us over!" Naruto said cheerfully. He glanced at Hinata, who ducked her flushed face. "I heard you made a real mess of things." his gaze landed on Suigetsu and Jugo before he started laughing. "Wow, they look like the stuff you'd squeeze out of a sausage casing. Nice work!"

"I-I'm sorry," Hinata cried, taking a step back as she retreated into herself fully. "I didn't mean to!"

"No need to be sorry! I was just telling Sasuke, the first day was way too boring for my taste." Naruto's grin widened. "Guess they should've known better than to mess with the heir of the Hyuga gang!"

I froze, watching Sakura get up and punch Naruto in the face. He dropped his end of the stretcher completely, much to Sasuke's indignation.

"Watch it, idiot." the dark-haired boy grumbled.

Sakura was absolutely fuming. "How many times do we have to tell you, you can't talk about this stuff so loudly at school!" she hissed.

"Ouuuch," Naruto pouted. "whhhy'd you have to hit so hard, Sakura?"

"Wait." I said loudly. "Wait. Backtrack. What did you say?" I took a deep breath, shaking my head. Surely I'd heard them wrong. "Did you just say... there's a Hyuga _gang_?"

Naruto turned towards me, still clutching his face. "Oh, right! Did Sakura and Ino tell you yet? Not only the Hyugas, but the Uchihas have their own factions too. But hey, even if their families are a little more well-known on the surface, the Uzumakis are still the best faction out there, you know."

He smiled again, ignoring Neji and Sasuke's glares. Hinata, however, only looked to be listening with great admiration. "And our three factions together make up," Naruto posed, fists in the air as he yelled this last part at the top of his lungs," the one, the only, _Konoha Gang Alliance_!"

It wasn't the echo of his shout, but the sound of my world shattering around me, that filled my ears next.

_No way._ I thought. This had to be a joke.

"_What did I just say?!_" Sakura shouted, this time punching Naruto in the stomach. I watched as his back slammed into the ground from the force, but his cries of pain were drowned out by my reeling mind.

"I thought we agreed we'd just call it the _Konoha Alliance_," Sasuke said curtly, finally dropping his end of the stretcher on the floor as well. "there's no need to point out it's an alliance of gangs. That's a given. Plus, it's tacky."

"Uh... Gangs... Like, Yakuza?" I laughed nervously, glancing around the group, waiting for someone to let me in on the prank. "Like... With the tattoos and pinky-cutting?"

Sasuke scoffed dryly. "Funny." My eyes darted towards him, not comprehending, before resting back on Naruto.

"Nah, nothing like that," Naruto gasped as he got up, clutching his stomach. "our families haven't done that stuff in ages. But we do all have this one tattoo in the Alliance," he jerked his thumb at the back of his shoulder, "most of us had to put it in a place that we could hide with our uniforms, though. It's like a swirly thing. You won't get one until later, though, because you're such a new member... but I promise it'll look really awesome when you do! "

A memory flashed in my mind. It was the image of that Konoha symbol I'd seen on the back of Sakura and Ino's shoulder in the locker room.

Oh no.

Oh god no.

The possibility became harder to deny as I chose that exact moment to glance down at the square of sidewalk Sakura had punched Naruto into.

The large slab of concrete had been shattered and broken apart, revealing the dirt and decomposing weeds underneath. If Sakura'd really punched him hard enough to break the sidewalk underneath him, any normal person would have had to be rushed to the hospital immediately after.

Yet here Naruto was, standing like it was nothing. Though he was holding his middle with a groan, he looked otherwise unscathed; if not just a little irritated. He was clearly no ordinary teenage boy, even here.

"Shouldn't you already know most of this stuff?" Sasuke asked before turning to Ino and Sakura. "I thought you said she met with Minato already."

"She did," Sakura said, frowning as she placed a hand on my forehead, "are you sure you're okay, Emiya? You're starting to get a little clammy..."

I didn't respond, suddenly feeling lightheaded. These people might not be shinobi here, but they were instead part of some sort of gang group—no, a gang _alliance_, as Naruto had said; which was somehow almost worse. How did I not realize this sooner?

"Hellllo?" Ino said, waving a hand in front of my eyes. "Earth to Emiya?"

"I... I..." My nausea from earlier was returning in waves. "I just..."

There was no time to finish my sentence as a second later, my vision was engulfed in a cloud of black.

'

* * *

'

I woke to the sight of Ino's face hovering over mine.

"_AUGHHH?!_" I screamed.

Ino didn't even wince. She stood over me as I clutched the covers around my neck, unsure of what the hell was happening.

"Your keys were in your bookbag," Ino explained, "though Sasuke said your locks could use some work. Even Naruto agreed."

"Sasuke and Naruto were here?!"

"Just to help carry you to the door," Ino shrugged. "we had to be discreet, so we needed a little help. Doesn't look good to be carrying an unconscious girl around."

"But they were really worried about you, you know," Sakura added, from where she'd apparently been sitting at the foot of my bed. "Us too. We would've brought you to get checked up with Tsunade, but she was too busy dealing with Suigetsu and Jugo, so I just took a look at you here. You should be fine with some rest, by the way. It looked like the shock just took its toll on you."

"Oh, thanks." I squinted at her. "Aren't you just a student too, though? Why do you know this stuff?" I remembered how she'd been an ace medic in the series, but here she'd mentioned only having an interest in the subject after Tsunade'd pointed out her talent recently.

"Uh well, in our line of work we get used to licking our own wounds." Ino laughed, answering for the pink-haired girl.

"Your line of—" I stopped mid-question, remembering the revelation I'd just been given. Right. The Yakuza business.

"Oh yeah," I chuckled weakly, "that line of work... I'd imagine..."

"It's a good thing your mom isn't home yet," Sakura commented, not seeming to notice my hesitance. "she'd probably be really worried to see you like this."

"Right," I said, still trying to gather my thoughts. "we probably shouldn't mention it to her."

"Speaking of worried moms, we should get going. Sakura's mom freaks when we get back late." Ino said, standing up. "Which is hilarious, because like, who'd be dumb enough to mess with _us_?"

I blinked. "Wait, you guys live together?"

"Yeah, you didn't know?" Ino said, flipping her ponytail over her shoulder. "My family lives in Shibuya, so we arranged for me to stay at Sakura's to be closer to school."

"It's not my choice, trust me," Sakura added. Ino slapped her on the arm.

"Oh please. You can't borrow my shoes as often as you do and _not_ appreciate it."

"Right, well, thanks for bringing me home," I said weakly. "I'll let you know if I need anything else, then."

"Of course, keep us updated." Sakura shot me a sympathetic glance as she too, stood to leave. "Do you know if your mom is getting back soon? If not, we could bring over some soup later."

"Oh no, it's alright," I said. "she mentioned she'd be staying late at work a lot this week for a case, but she probably left dinner in the fridge."

"Alright, if you're sure... Still, text us if anything happens!"

I waved them goodbye, the smile on my face immediately dropping as they exited my apartment.

There was so much to comprehend right now, but my first concern was that I needed to speak to my mom. It'd happened before where she'd had to stay late for weeks on end during particularly trying cases, but this timing couldn't have been worse. A part of me wished I could talk to her tonight, just to at least find out what she'd done to get herself involved in all this. Or to get_ us_ involved. Who knew who did what first.

Really, how had we gotten tangled up with the _Yakuza_? Were we in some kind of debt? Did they have something on us?

Whatever it was, I needed to find out more about them.

I was at my computer a few minutes later, staring at the search bar. Where to even start... I'd looked up Naruto already and found nothing, but I hadn't bothered looking up the others yet.

Slowly, I typed in the name _Sasuke Uchiha_.

A small part of me still expected to see the boy show up in an image with the signature forehead protector tied around his head; but instead, the first result was an article on a financial news site.

_"Young Sasuke Uchiha Attends Uchiha Motors Unveiling,"_ it read.

Uchiha Motors? Okay, that was news to me. I skimmed through the body of the text, my jaw dropping as I did.

_The second son of Fugaku Uchiha, CEO of the famous Uchiha Corporation (most known for their subsidiary car manufacturing company, Uchiha Motors), attended his first unveiling this January at the showcase for the new Model T7. When asked what he thought of the newly released model, the young man chose not to comment..._

_No way_, I thought, as I backtracked through the other articles that had come up in my search.

There were tons of articles highlighting the success of the Uchiha Corporation, headquartered in Shinjuku, and how the mysterious family that ran it tended to stay out of the limelight despite their success.

_Probably because they were all secretly Yakuza this entire time,_ I thought, bookmarking all the other articles regarding the Uchihas to read through later.

Well, that'd been a surprise. Sure, Sasuke's family had been powerful in the series, but I didn't know if it needed to translate to _this_ kind of craziness here.

The Hyugas were my next search. A part of me was curious to see if their tale had devolved into something just as incomprehensible here.

In a way, it had.

Many of the articles read how they were a family well-known for their close ties to the royals of Japan. Most of their clansmen worked at the Imperial Palace and were in charge of the archives, art galleries, gardens, etc. They were even rumored to have direct bloodlines shared with the Imperial family, an idea reflected in some of the headlines, like:

_"Are the Rumors True? The Scandal of Hyugas Intermingling with Royal Blood"_

Only rumored, however. The Hyugas even lived on the premises, though, which I thought was interesting. That meant Hinata and Neji must have lived in Chiyoda, yet they'd chosen to go to school in another ward. I wondered why they'd chosen to attend Konoha High here, then.

After reading through a few more articles, I went on with my quest for information, wondering how I should go about looking up the Uzumakis in particular. Searching Naruto's name hadn't bore any fruit the first time I'd checked...but perhaps his father's would. It'd been mentioned a few times, even by Yakumo, how significant his presence was.

The results I'd expected, however, when typing in the words _Minato Namikaze_; well, they weren't this.

_"Mayor Namikaze Promises New Crime Initiatives in the Minato ward",_ the first article read.

"He's the _MAYOR?_" I shrieked, scrolling rapidly through the rest of the articles to check if my eye were deceiving me.

It seemed he'd been the mayor for a while now, constantly getting reelected due to his popularity with the citizens. And it wasn't just him. According the the story one article had spun, Minato had been named after the ward by his father, who'd been the mayor before him. At the mention of Naruto's grandfather, it made me wonder briefly if even he had been a Yakuza too. But then again, who could say how deep this went. They could've had the local government in their pocket for decades, for all I knew.

There was nothing on Uzumakis in general, however, outside of the Namikazes. No mention of how Naruto was his son even, except at the footnote of an article where only his name was written. Still, it'd been common knowledge at the school, at least from how Yakumo had put it, so that wasn't much of a secret to reveal.

It was almost eerie how no information at all existed about these family's affiliation to gang groups, even across the dozens of articles I'd read. It resurfaced the hope that this might all be a misunderstanding again, but that hope died in my throat as I remembered Hinata's insane fighting skills and Sakura's brute strength. No, it didn't seem likely.

But it added up. The calmness after seeing Hinata fling two boys around the courtyard like they were nothing. The casual mentions of violence and killing, though I'd initially thought they were just jokes... What's worse, I had to wrestle with the knowledge that somehow, they'd already accepted me, someone who had very little to offer in terms of Yakuza-worthy skills, for reasons completely unknown.

"Oh god," I said aloud, finally remembering something very important that Naruto had mentioned early. "am I really going to have to get a _tattoo_?!"

'

* * *

'

Two days later, I was piling into an unknown car after class.

Well, _car_ had been an understatement. Sakura and Ino had gone off to get our stuff from the lockers, instructing me to head over to the parking lot first to flag down the car. I'd stood there awkwardly for a few minutes, repeatedly checking the time on my phone and realizing I had no idea what our transportation to the mountain house was even supposed to look like.

That was when a long, black limo pulled up to the left of me.

"Hello!" A head peeked out from the driver's seat window, revealing a man with brown spiked hair and dark eyes. He leaned his elbow on the windowsill as he addressed me. "Are you one of Naruto's friends?"

"Uh, yes. I think." I said, staring at the sleek exterior of the vehicle.

"Great!" the man said cheerily. There was a pause, before he continued, "Anything you have to say to me?"

"...Canine." I recited the cryptic password Sakura and Ino had told me. Yeah, I didn't know how I couldn't figure out this whole Yakuza thing sooner. Normal people didn't give passwords to drivers for weekend mountain trips.

"Perfect. Hop aboard," he said, pressing a button at the front, which opened up one of the car's rear doors. "I'm Yamato, by the way. Let me know if there's anything you need from me during the trip."

As I walked over to the open door, I glanced the hood. It had a silver symbol on it, but surprisingly its outline was one I recognized.

The Uchiha fan.

_Of course,_ I thought. I'd just read up on Uchiha Motors the other night, after all.

"Anything wrong?" Yamato asked.

"N-no," I said immediately, quickly dashing past him and through the door. I almost groaned aloud as I glanced the inside.

The interior should've been dark, thanks to the fully-tinted windows. Instead, however, it was lit by a row of white lights, fluorescents shining up from under the long purple seats that stretched the expanse of the interior, ending right before the two perpendicular seats sections off at the end. In all honesty it seemed excessive, especially considering it was just an hour drive to Mount Takao. It was hard to believe a car this nice could even make it _up_ a mountain.

I sat near the front at first, before slowly repositioning to the middle. Wait, was there like, a seating hierarchy in the Yakuza? Should I be in the back instead?

It was likely that this would be a constant worry of mine throughout this trip, that I was somehow violating some unspoken Yakuza rule. I'd decided it wasn't a good idea to back out last-minute, however, despite my trepidation; I didn't want to risk angering my scary, gang-member friends by cancelling last minute. Naruto had told me he'd already spoken to his dad about letting me tag along, after all.

"I'm so glad you're coming!" Ino chirped, suddenly slamming the limo door open. I swallowed a surprised scream. "Ooh, it's going to be so much fun, all of us hanging out all weekend in the mountains!"

"Yeah!" Sakura said, sliding in after Ino to the seat to my right. "We're going to pick tea leaves, hike, attend tea ceremonies, all that stuff they do in the movies!"

"Why does everything you want to do sound like work?" Ino complained, already in her seat to my left. "By the way Emiya, Sasuke already helped us get the bags in the trunk. If you need something from them, just let us know and we'll have Yamato pull over."

"Okay, thanks," I said, surprised to see that Sasuke had been with them. He chose that moment to duck in, immediately heading straight towards the back without a word. He settled on one of the two seats that'd been sectioned off, somehow still managing to keep up the loner image in a limo where almost all the seats were facing each other. His eyes were already glued to an article on his phone the moment he sat down, cutting off all possibility of conversing with the dark Uchiha. That was fine with me, though, as I wasn't sure I wanted to talk to him right now. After all my searching last night, I still couldn't get some of the images I'd seen out of my head... Like that one of him and the rest of his many relatives wearing identical black suits, standing perfectly still next to a line of newly minted vehicles. It was almost reminiscent of a strange family portrait. But with cars.

"Ugh. We're still waiting on Naruto, of course," Sakura frowned, glancing at the windows behind her. Not that she'd be able to see anything out of the heavily darkened glass. "he's always late."

"Ooh, while we wait do you want me to do your makeup again, Emiya?" Ino asked, pulling out a compact from her bag. "Look, I got this just for the trip! It's supposed to last even through long hikes and stuff."

I frowned, eyeing the foundation. "I uh, don't think that's my color." It was true. With my tan, I was probably far closer in shade to Asuma than Ino.

Sakura giggled as Ino's eyes widened. "Oh my gosh, you're right. I'm so stupid!"

"It's okay, thanks for the offer though." I smiled. It was a very Ino-like move, after all.

"No point in putting on makeup now anyways," Sakura said. "first thing when we get there we should head straight for the onsen!"

"That's true," Ino said thoughtfully, "we'll probably be stuck in meetings all day tomorrow, so we should plan that for tonight."

"Is there really an onsen that close to the mountain house?" I asked.

"Oh yeah, of course! the baths are actually owned by Naruto's godfather," Ino said. "he planned it out so they'd be near each other. Luckily he won't be there, though."

"He owns the baths _and_ the house?" I asked. "Wow."

"Well, he didn't buy the baths for the best reason," Sakura rolled her eyes, "but anyways. Enough about Naruto's pervy godfather. Does anyone know when Naruto plans on getting here? We've been sitting here forever."

"I'm giving him five more minutes before we leave without him." Sasuke called out from the back of the car, irritation evident in his tone. Sakura and Ino exchanged a quick, unreadable glance.

"Um, well, maybe we could give him more time than that...?" I said hesitantly. "He could be doing something important."

"Hey guys!" Naruto slid the door open, an bowl of actual ramen in his free hand. He crouched down the aisle before plopping down in the seat right next to Sasuke, even though the dark-haired boy had obviously meant to sit alone. "Sorry for being late, wasn't sure I could make it all weekend before unless I stopped by old man Teuchi's first!"

"Are you really bringing ramen into my car?" Sasuke glared.

"Uh, it's your _family's_ car," Naruto said, sticking out his tongue, already digging his chopsticks into the hot broth. "and don't worry, I'm a skilled Yakuza! I won't spill a drop!"

"Everyone ready to go?" Yamato called from the front.

"Yes please," Naruto called back. "Thanks, Tenzo!"

"...No problem," Yamato sighed. "but you should probably stick with the codenames, you know."

"Right. Thanks, Yamato!"

"...Great."

The engine revved to life as we finally started our drive, a strange tension in the air as Sasuke continued glaring daggers at Naruto. Something told me it was more than the ramen causing this animosity.

"Is everything okay with Sasuke?" I risked a whisper to Ino.

"Apparently Sasuke found out at breakfast today that his brother's coming with us this weekend," Ino whispered back, "and what's worse, Naruto knew, but didn't tell him."

"Oh," I said, frowning. "is it really that big a deal?"

"It is," Sasuke said loudly from the back. "we can all hear you, by the way. Are you even trying to whisper?"

I froze, a terrified smile plastered on my face. Why did _everyone_ have amazing hearing here?

"Uuuh," Naruto's eyes widened, noodles still halfway to his mouth as he tried to change the subject. "hey, Emiya! Has anyone explained the territories and stuff to you yet?"

"...Territories?"

He placed the bowl of half-eaten ramen on the floor of the car (which earned another glare from Sasuke), before pulling out a crumped map from his bag. "Yeah, like the wards and stuff?"

I blinked, aware of the car-full of eyes watching me.

Though this world had directly replaced Tokyo with Konoha, the geography had otherwise stayed mostly the same. The areas within the city were split up into wards exactly like they'd been before, so it was a strange question to ask someone that already lived here, as that was extremely common knowledge. There was a possibility, however, that other things had changed as well. Slipping up in front of everyone would not be a mistake I could afford to make this early on.

"Um, I mean, I might be relatively new to town but of course I know about the wards... But could you be more specific...?"

"Sure!" Naruto said, flattening the map out on his knee. Ino scooted over so I could get a better look. "Let's just start from the beginning. Right now we're in the Minato ward, where you and Ino and Sakura all live. Plus, that's where our school is. My family's faction pretty much runs this ward, and my dad's the mayor, yadda yadda. My old man probably already told you all that stuff a while back."

"Of course," I nodded. "I totally knew that for a long time. Since a long time ago, yes."

"Yeah! So anyways, the Uchihas run the Shinjuku ward, plus a ton of them work in the police force there, so they're a super powerful gang. Even without all that corporate stuff they've got going for them on the surface. Never underestimate a Yakuza with connections in the police, you know?" Naruto laughed.

Right, Shinjuku _was_ known for its police. Ironic.

His finger rose further north on the map. "The Uchiha faction's territory also borders the territory of our rival gang, in Bunkyo."

"Bunkyo?" I blinked. "My mom says the crime rates in Bunkyo are some of the lowest in Toky—uh, I mean, Konoha. Anyways, do they really have gangs there?"

"Not just any gang. The Sound Syndicate." Naruto said, frowning. "They're good at hiding their tracks...but not for long!" Naruto added quickly. "My dad's got a plan to take them down. But we'll get to that at the house." his finger moved back down on the map, though further east this time. "By the way, Neji and Hinata's family, the Hyugas, run Chiyoda, which also borders Bunkyo. They joined the alliance because the Sound Syndicate was giving them a lot of trouble a while back, but they're really useful because they've got connections in the Imperial Palace and stuff." Naruto glanced down once more, staring at the map intently.

"Am I missing anything else, guys?"

"No, you've covered about everything," Sakura said. "good job for once, Naruto."

Naruto beamed, rubbing his nose. "Of course! I'm the mayor's son, after all, expect nothing le—oh no, my ramen!" he cried as the car hit a bump in the road, the liquid sloshing over the sides of the bowl onto the wooden flooring.

Sasuke's glare was practically on fire now.

"...Okay." I said as Ino rolled down the windows to air out the smell as Naruto rushed to rescue his meal. Sakura handed him a handkerchief from her bag with a sigh so he could dab up some of the liquid.

A part of me felt overwhelmed. So much information was being thrown at me, and I wasn't sure which of it I was supposed to already know.

"Anyways," Naruto said, picking up his bowl, as well as the rest of the explanation, "That's why we have to go all the way out west to the mountain house, to meet with the Sand Siblings. Their family runs the Setagaya ward in West Konoha. We think they might want to join our group, since the Konoha Alliance is the only thing stopping the Sound Syndicate from getting to their borders. It helps keep their ward out of trouble in the long run, and helps us with getting more numbers in the fight against the Syndicate."

"But of course, it could be a trick or an ambush," Sasuke added sourly. "just a way for them to take out key members of a rival gang in unfamiliar territory."

Naruto laughed. "You worry too much! Gaara's their heir, and he's only our age. He'll get us."

"Really? Because I've heard he's absolutely _nuts_," Sakura said. "his siblings, too."

"Yeah, apparently they're called the Sand Siblings because they used to throw people in the river and tie sandbags to their ankles so they'd drown," Ino grimaced. "not fun."

"Someone told me it's because Gaara stuffs sand and remains in a gourd he carries around to clean up the dead bodies once he's done," Sakura mused.

"I heard it's because they rub sand into people's eyes during fights," Sasuke mumbled. "takes playing dirty to a new level."

"Well, wouldn't you hate that, Mr. Perfect Vision?" Naruto teased. "C'mon, you guys are too paranoid! I'm sure those are all just rumors."

I was almost hyperventilating at this point. "...Are, are you sure?" I squeaked.

"...Noooo?" Naruto said cheerfully, "But we've all got our pasts, if they're willing to turn a new leaf, who're we to judge?"

"Okay, but can we fact-check the gourd thing at least?" I said, shaking.

"Ugh, that's so gross," Ino rolled her eyes. "everyone knows you dispose of a body in a fire."

The rest of the passengers nodded their approval.

_They're insane,_ I realized._ They're all completely insane. _

'

* * *

'

A/N:

So by now you might've already noticed this is also inspired by that Naruto OVA where they're all students attending high school (if you had seen it beforehand then it was probably _very_ obvious lol).


	4. Chapter 4: The Mountain House

Stranger Days

'

* * *

Chapter 4: The Mountain House

* * *

'

"Wow," I breathed as we took in the sight before us. "that's... gorgeous."

The mountain house was big, to say the least. Its main building was fives stories high, with several smaller attached buildings connected by hallways jutting out of its side. Despite its substantial presence, it was otherwise a very traditional-looking Japanese home from the outside, complete with sliding shoji doors and an somewhat more humble veranda. Towering trees surrounded its perimeter, blooming flowers of every color, from crimson to lavender, their bright petals standing out like fireworks against the muted wooden roofing behind them.

It certainly didn't_ look_ like a secret Yakuza meeting place, but I was hardly about to allow myself to underestimate these people at this point. As a small group of men and women in traditional dress approached us, the echoing sounds of open-toed shoes crunching on fallen leaves and twigs made it clear you'd have a hard timing sneaking up on someone here. Plus, the house sat on the very edge of the mountain's slope, making the entirety of the forest floor below visible from the house, especially since it looked like most of the floors boasted a wrapping balcony to take in the view from.

"Those are the maids and groundskeepers," Yamato explained, gesturing to the swath of people that'd started taking the luggage from our hands. He'd dropped us off a few feet from the entrance of the house, right where the dirt road had ended, and the wood-paneled walkway up to the house had began. "this place used to be an inn before Naruto's godfather bought it, but he kept all the employees on to run things while he's away."

"It's pretty secluded," Sakura mused, shifting her bags off her shoulders to hand to the maids. "we're nowhere near all the touristy spots."

"Yeah, that's how my godfather likes it. This place is like his hermit cave," Naruto laughed. "he only ever comes up here to write his novels, so he doesn't want too many people around to bother him."

I gave up my duffel to a short woman in a kimono, feeling even more out of place as she bowed before taking her leave.

"I still can't believe he owns this whole thing," I murmured as we followed the small mob of innkeepers to the front door. Was Naruto's godfather a part of the Yakuza too? He must've been, if he was willing to host these meetings at his own house. I briefly wondered how much gang money must've been funneled in to its members, considering the Uchihas seemed pretty well-off too.

Then again, maybe I didn't want to know.

Sakura's foot had almost passed the threshold of the front door when we all heard the sudden_ crrnch_ leaves being thrashed through in our direction. My gaze snapped up as a flash of green caught my eye.

"HELLO!" My heart stopped in my chest as a goblin-eyed boy suddenly appeared before us. I looked behind him to see he had decimated the forest floor in his run over, leaving a trail of crumbled foliage and upturned mounds of dirt in his wake. "We have all been awaiting your arrival, my friends! How was your drive up?!"

"Lee," Sakura said as cordially as she could muster, "please keep the volume down. We've talked about this...!"

"My apologies! I do not wish to cause any security risks with the volume of my greeting. However, it was impossible to contain my excitement!" Lee bowed with a flourish. "I will do 100 pushups as an apology to you and the nature that I have disturbed!"

"N-no, that's not necessary, Lee!" Naruto said, rapidly waving his hands around in the air. "Uh, um, Emiya! Have you two met? He's in our homeroom, but I don't think you guys have ever talked."

Oh right, he sat next to Neji. His attire alone would have made his identity obvious from the start, if his enthusiasm hadn't already.

I gave a small wave, knowing that this was only Naruto's way of distracting Lee from doing something outlandish, but I was willing to play along. "It's nice to meet you, Lee. My name's Emiya."

"Emiya? That is a very masculine name for a girl. How youthful!" Rock Lee said, flashing me a thumbs up.

I frowned, lowering my hand as Ino groaned from behind me.

"Tactless as usual, Lee," she said, "and also, what are you_ wearing_?"

"What? Oh! Excuse my attire," Rock Lee laughed, "I have just come from soccer practice!"

"And you didn't change?!" Ino crinkled her nose. "Ew."

"I did not! And make note Emiya, the team's official uniform also comes with yellow leg warmers. However, it is far too temperate for that in the spring. It is, however, the PERFECT SEASON for the _SPRING_TIME OF YOUTH!"

"Why...why did you think I needed that noted?" I whispered.

"Alright," Sasuke said, walking quickly past us and up to the door. "I can't deal with this."

His way in, however, was suddenly blocked as the face of a girl with twin hair buns peeked out of the doorway to greet us.

"Have you guys just been standing out here?! Come in, the maids already—"

Her eyes met mine and she froze.

"Oh. Um... hi?" I said.

"Hey Tenten!" Ino waved from behind me, Tenten's gaze darting over to her. "This is Emiya. We talked about her, remember?"

Tenten coughed quietly. "Right, I know that's her. How could I not? It just that... well, nobody said she'd be _here_..."

"Oh crap!" Naruto paled. "I knew I was forgetting something!"

"_Naruto!_" Sakura hissed. Sasuke's hand went to his face as he loudly mumbled the word _idiot_ under his breath.

"Ah yes, that's right. I too, do not remember it being mentioned." Lee added thoughtfully.

"Wait, what?" I asked, glancing around the group. Ino cringed visibly as Sakura squeezed her eyes shut in frustration.

"It's okay," Naruto said, running in past Tenten, "I'll just head in first and warn everybody! S'no problem!"

"What do you mean, _warn_ them?" I asked nervously, but he had already raced out of earshot.

Tenten sighed before stepping aside to let us in. "If he doesn't, everyone will assume you're some sort of intruder and go for your throat before we get the chance to explain. It's really for your own sake, trust me."

"...Yeah, I can see why that'd be preferable," I muttered as we made our way into the foyer. It was just as magnificent as the exterior, of course, and from the long hallway I could see the opening of a living room the size of my apartment. If it weren't for the overbearing amount of frog statues, paintings, and even wooden carvings lining every corner of the room, I'd wonder why they didn't just keep renting out the extra space as an inn. Certainly Naruto's godfather didn't need this all to himself.

"That Naruto," Tenten continued with a frown. "I didn't bring enough tools for the exercise then, if there's an extra person coming."

"Sorry," Sakura clasped her hands together in apology on Naruto's behalf, "but it doesn't matter anyways, since Emiya's not participating in the training exercise anyways."

"WHAT?!" Rock Lee exclaimed. "But she must! It is a PILLAR of our BONDING! And if the Sand Siblings can not bond with all of us, how will they come to trust us after their long, bloody history?!"

"I'm sure if the rest of us can get them on board, they'll come to accept Emiya too," Ino rolled her eyes. "and honestly, who knows if that glorified obstacle course'll be enough to make them want to join the Alliance."

"It's worked before, though, hasn't it?" Tenten pointed out. "Besides, we won't know until we try."

"Exactly!" Lee exclaimed. "Come, Tenten, all this talk about it has me truly pumped up! Let us see if we can start setting up the exercise ourselves!"

"What?" Tenten blinked. "We're not supposed to do that until after Minato arrives. Besides, it takes hours, even with everyone else helping."

"But," Lee said, making a fantastical pose, "with my strength and your expertise, I bet if we begin now, by tomorrow we can be finished up to two times, no, three times, no, FIVE TIMES faster than last year!"

"Uhhh, no," Tenten sighed, taking Lee by the wrist and dragging him back out the front door. "why don't you help me sharpen some weapons instead."

"Oh, yes, anything to help!" Lee said fervently. "I bet that together, we can finish up to two times, no, three times, no, EIGHT TIMES faster than usual!"

"Bye," Sakura waved as they left, "and good luck... you'll probably need it."

'

* * *

'

As we entered the living room, I noticed two un-introduced faces occupying the room; a boy with a very spiked ponytail, and another with reddish-pink swirls tattooed on his face.

"Hey guys!" Naruto cheered, waving from his seat amongst the cushions and mats scattered haphazardly around the space. "Don't worry Emiya, I was just letting Shikamaru here know you were coming."

I assumed that Shikamaru was the ponytailed boy, as he looked much like he had in the series.

"Wouldn't it be easier to just text everyone instead, to let them know I'm coming?" I asked, confused. Naruto looked surprised at the question, but he didn't have time to answer before Sasuke interrupted.

"Where's Shisui?" Sasuke frowned, pushing forth past us to survey the room.

"He's running late," Shikamaru shrugged. "his baseball practice was running long, so we went ahead without him. Your brother decided to hang back and wait on him too."

"...Whatever," Sasuke grumbled, stalking off. "I'm going to unpack first, then."

"Our room's down to the left!" Naruto called after him.

I watched the younger Uchiha as he exited down the hall, before realizing Shikamaru had stalked over to where I was standing, hands in pockets.

"I think I've seen you around the school, but we haven't been introduced." he said.

"Oh, right!" Naruto said, standing up now. He shimmied over quickly before slamming a hand down on my shoulder. I tried not to wince. "This is Emiya! Emiya, this is Shikamaru. His, Ino, and Chouji's family run the eastern half of Shibuya for us. That's Chouji, over there."

From behind Shikamaru, the boy with the swirl tattoos lifted his hand from the inside of a bag of chips to wave.

"Hey!" Chouji greeted. I didn't really know what any of that information Naruto had given me entailed, but Ino _had_ mentioned she was from Shibuya earlier.

"Hmm." Shikamaru drawled, glancing at Naruto. "So it's true that we've got an outsider joining in. That could be..."

"Troublesome?" I guessed jokingly, unable to help myself.

I watched his jaw tighten as he regarded me with a new suspicion in his eyes. Oops.

"Yeah," he said slowly, "troublesome. That was the _exact_ word I was going to use."

"Aw c'mon, don't worry so much." Naruto laughed. "She's not the first outsider we've let into the Alliance."

"Right," Shikamaru sighed. "but it'd be nice if she'd gone through some training by now, at least."

So he too, saw how my noodle arms and record 9-minute-mile couldn't possibly benefit their organization.

"Is that... Going to be an issue?" I asked.

Shikamaru's eyes darted down to mine. "Not really, not for what you're doing. But honestly, it'd probably be better if you at least knew some self defense. You're the most recent addition to the Alliance since Sakura, which was almost four years ago. And even she at least knew martial arts before she came in."

I turned to look at Sakura, who'd suddenly paled. "Oh... I didn't realize."

"Shikamaru," Ino said warningly, stepping in front of me and blocking my view of the boy. "stop scaring her!"

"But I—" Shikamaru started, but was interrupted by the sound of the front door sliding open, followed by the pattering of footsteps towards the room.

"Sorry I'm late. Is everyone ready for..." Shisui stopped in his tracks, glancing me up and down.

"What...? Emiya?"

Shikamaru sighed as Shisui's eyes locked on mine, wildly confused.

I turned to Naruto for help.

"Oops, did I forget to mention?" Naruto laughed nervously. "Yeah, so she'll be joining us for this weekend."

"W... why didn't anyone run this past me?" Shisui exclaimed, dropping the pack from his shoulder to the floor. "How could you think this was a good idea, Naruto?!"

"My dad signed off on it, I swear!" Naruto raised his hands defensively. "I just forgot to fill you guys in before we came up here!"

Shisui's expression grew suspicious as he walked over to where we stood. "Really? _Minato_ said she could come?"

"Yeah! I wouldn't have brought her up otherwise, promise!"

The older Uchiha exhaled a long breath. "Ughh. That's..." he rubbed his temples as he continued, "Okay, fine. I trust your father's judgement, but I need you guys to keep a close eye on her this weekend, alright? I don't want her getting into anything... problematic."

_Problematic?_ I wanted to ask, but I had a feeling I wouldn't even understand if it was outright explained to me.

"Who do you think I am? We were already planning that!" Naruto said, shifting his feet. "And—"

"Where's Itachi? Isn't he supposed to be coming with you?"

The question had been spoken in a tone so biting, even _my_ blood has run cold. And I probably knew the least about what was going on out of anyone here.

I glanced to the other end of the room, where Sasuke had returned. He stood with his arms crossed at the entrance of the hallway, sporting a frown so deep it practically touched the ends of his chin.

"He went around the back, since he's staying in one of the attached buildings instead." Shisui explained. "He wanted to be closer to where we'd be holding meetings later."

Sasuke was heading straight for Shisui, his scowl now practically twisting off his face. "Good. In the meantime, I have some things I want to _discuss_ then, Shisui."

"Oh no..." Ino laughed nervously. She turned to me, arm on elbow as she said, "Hey, I bet Shisui probably has some stuff he wants to give you, so me and Sakura'll just go ahead to the room first."

"Oh, um, sure..." I said, watching as they made their escape. Naruto, Shikamaru and Chouji also quickly disappeared off into the opposite hallway, leaving me alone with the Uchiha boys.

"In a minute, Sasuke. I have to deal with one thing at a time." Shisui said firmly. "I need to speak to Emiya if she's going to be staying here this weekend." his words stopped Sasuke stopped in his tracks, unfortunately at a spot right in front of me.

"Hn," Sasuke said darkly, crossing his arms. "...Fine, I'll wait."

"Thanks," Shisui replied, before turning to me. "anyways, Emiya, I'd love to have just welcomed you here, but it's a little complicated."

"Oh no, that's alright," I said, shaking my head, "if I'd known it would be such a problem, I wouldn't have come."

"No, honestly, it was unexpected, but it's fine. Just make sure to stay close to your friends while you're here." Shisui warned. "And don't wander around too much, either. It'll become a security issue if you do."

"...Got it."

He reached out his hand as he continued, "Oh, and speaking of security. I'll need your phone."

"What?" I blinked.

"It's standard protocol up here," he spoke apologetically. "we'll give it back to you at the end of the weekend, promise. The signal was scrambled by the time you were within a few miles of this place anyways."

Well, that's the kind of thing I might've wanted to be warned about beforehand. I didn't really want to argue that point right now, however, considering Sasuke was still waiting on us, and his expression was growing more peeved every passing second. "O...oh, alright."

"What the hell is that?" Sasuke asked suddenly, as I was pulling out my phone from my pocket. It took me a second to realize he was speaking to me.

"Um, it's my phone...?"

Sasuke scoffed. "What is this, last decade? Who still uses a flip phone?"

"Haha," I said defensively. "well, they're cheaper to replace than other phones. Plus, it lasts forever."

"No kidding. That thing should be in a museum..." Sasuke mumbled. He turned to Shisui. "How much longer will this take?"

"Not too long," Shisui said as he took my phone, "but if you're already tired of waiting, I can just stop by you and Naruto's room later when I get the chance."

"Fine." Sasuke nodded curtly before taking his exit. Shisui sighed once the other boy was out of earshot, before pulling a white smartphone out from his left pocket.

"What was that about?" I asked, glancing at the hallway Sasuke had left through. There were several halls leading to what I assumed were different rooms or stairways — or perhaps even different attached buildings. The boys had all gone down a different one than the girls, leading me to believe they'd segregated us out, for some reason.

"Oh, nothing," Shisui said cheerfully, "Sasuke almost always has a half-dozen complaints within the first five minutes of these trips. He likes to run them by me and pretend I'll do something about them. Anyways, here," he dropped the smartphone into my hand. "you can borrow this for the weekend. Feel free to plug it into your computer if you want to download music or anything, but it still can't make calls or take pictures unless you get special access from an Aburame."

"Okay... wait, did you say Aburame?"

"Yes," a voice spoke suddenly from behind me. I almost yelped, as I'd been sure the room was empty except for us only moments before.

I turned to see a bushy-haired boy pushing up his sunglasses onto the bridge of his nose. He held out his hand as he continued, "my family makes all the devices necessary for our operations. My name is Shino Aburame. I believe we both attend Konoha High together as well."

"Right. My name's Emiya..." I glanced down at his offered hand before taking it in a quick shake. It seemed a little formal for an introduction of high school students, but I wasn't exactly up to date on how things went around here. "So, I'm guessing I give this thing back to one of you two later?"

"Actually, you can return it to me or Sasuke at the end of the trip," Shisui explained. "Sasuke's dad is the one that bought the technology out from Shino's family."

"Yes," Shino nodded, "we are grateful for his business."

"Well, he needs you guys as much as you need him. You guys make all the chips for our cars, after all."

"Yes. Much like the strong exoskeleton of the rhinoceros beetle native to this area," Shino said, "we provide the backbone, but your family services the rest."

"...No, that's not what I said."

I unlocked the phone and scrolled through its contents, confirming the absence of a working messenger or camera app. I'd have to ask about that later, especially since I hadn't yet gotten the chance to text my mom to let her know we'd arrived at the mountain house safely.

"So, Aburame tech... Are you sure using this won't give me a computer bug?" I joked.

The room was silent.

"...I'm so sorry, nevermind," I flushed, bringing the phone back down to my side. That's what I get for trying to make two series references in one day. Did I ever learn?

"I found that," Shino said, slowly turning his covered gaze to me, "hilarious."

"Oh," I said, deeply uncomfortable. "Thanks."

"You are, in fact, referencing my family's famously deep-rooted history in entomology, as well as the fact our current flagship products lie in the electronics sector, correct?"

"Yes," I said squeakily. "yes I was."

"Amazing. Bugs and computers. Computers and bugs. Computer bug. So simplistic, yet such spot-on humor. I would have never thought of it myself."

"Please stop, whatever this is," Shisui said, gesturing his hand with a sigh, "and make sure to get your things settled before dinner. It's at seven thirty, don't be late." he turned to leave, shaking his head to himself as he did.

Shino, however, only moved to stand closer next to me, dropping his voice to a near-whisper.

"If you are interested in learning more about the world of insects, I could give you discount to my family's museum. It has several sections focused on just that."

"Thanks, Shino," I said. It was had to refuse outright when he was being so nice — and creepy — about it. "that sounds... great. Uh, I'm going to go check out my room now, if you don't mind."

"Of course," Shino nodded, "I will be taking my leave as well then."

I back away slowly towards the hall that I'd seen Ino and Sakura go down, silently praying that the rest of this weekend would be a little less hectic.

'

* * *

'

I was a bit nervous for everyone's reaction to my presence at dinner, now that I knew I was an unannounced party crasher of this trip (thanks, Naruto). Still, so far it seemed clear that nobody really minded. In fact, everyone had been mostly welcoming. Mostly.

"This is Kiba," Neji said from his seat across from me. I looked up from where I was being scooped a plate of curry, frowning at its bubbling black color. That was not normal. "you might have seen him in some of your classes by now. His and Shino's family both run the Akihabara district within Chiyoda."

Kiba, like everyone else, looked much like how I'd imagined him; complete with brown spiked hair and two red fang-shaped tattoos on his face. I briefly wondered how he and Chouji got away with such visible facial inking, consider most high schools I'd known had policies against that. Then again, Konoha High wasn't like most schools.

"Oh," I said, holding my hand out across the steaming dishes laid out in front of us. Dinner had apparently been catered by the Akimichis, their family providing a marvelous spread of roasted meats, rice, vegetables, as well as pitchers of fruit-infused tea and water. And those, the maids had explained, were just the appetizers. I'd been looking forward to see what they'd prepared for the main course, until Chouji told us that Lee had insisted on bringing his extra-spicy curry recipe onto the menu.

With my free hand, I slowly pushed aside the black curry, not wanting to risk a taste after watching the previously stone-faced Sasuke run off to the bathroom after a single bite. Most of the rest of the table too had taken that cue as well, though I could overhear Lee trying to persuade Shikamaru and Shino to try out the dish from the other side of the long table.

Kiba didn't seem to notice the commotion, however, as he was preoccupied with staring at my outstretched hand like it was an alien life form. "What the fuck are you doing?"

I hadn't been sure about the handshake, but Shino had wanted one earlier. It'd led me to assume that was just a thing up here.

Obviously, I was wrong.

"...N-nothing," I stammered, slowly lowering my hand. Why'd I think taking a social cue from Shino was a good idea, again? "I..."

"Oh, c'mon," Sakura laughed from my right. "she was just being polite, Kiba."

Kiba turned to Neji, his expression bordering on disgust and untamed frustration. "She seriously joining? Like,_ seriously_? I mean, I've seen her in gym class."

"Hey! Ease up." Ino said from her seat at my other side. "Most of us have gone through training our entire lives. Who are we to judge normal people like Emiya? Even if she couldn't finish the rope climb. Or the obstacle course. Or the—"

"Ino," I said wryly, "I think they get it." I hadn't even realized they'd been watching me that closely during class. Maybe I needed to start taking up jogging in the mornings...

"Right, sorry. But still, it doesn't matter anyways. You guys know Emiya's not here to do any fighting or anything."

Neji nodded. "Of course not. How could she? But putting aside her physical abilities, I also fear her mental constitution is quite weak; well below our organization's standards."

"Wha... What?!" I exclaimed. "How so?"

"For your sake I won't go into details, but I distinctly remember you fainting in the street just the other day, right after witnessing Hinata's fight."

"...How is that _not _going into details?"

"So the rumors were true? I heard she even cried." Kiba asked, glancing to Hinata at his right. "How would it look if she started crying on a mission, right in front of our enemies? Embarrassing, that's how."

"That was not crying! Hinata misunderstood!"

"I-I did?" Hinata asked, hands flying up to her face. "Oh my gosh, I'm so sorry Emiya!"

"No, really, it's fine, I just meant..."

"Or an interrogation?" Neji interjected. "What if she gets captured down the road?" he shook his head disapprovingly. "I'm sure it wouldn't take much to pry secrets out of her in that state."

Wait, did he say captured? Interrogations? What?

I mean, I realized people assumed I already knew what was going on, but would it hurt to get a reiteration once in a while?

"_Lay off her, you guys!_" Sakura said, suddenly stabbing her chopsticks into the table. Heads snapped in her direction, and I could've sworn I saw Shino slowly lift a switchblade from his person. He immediately re-pocketed it when he realized it was just Sakura, before returning to his conversation with Lee and Shikamaru. What the hell.

Everyone else regained their bearings almost immediately except for me. I continued to stare at the pair of chopsticks, which had been lodged in all the way past its middle, the wood of the table splintering around the beige eating utensils.

_Holy shit,_ I thought. _Note to self, do not cross this girl._

"Look, if I hadn't screwed up that mission, Emiya wouldn't have to be here. She's risking her life by doing _us_ a favor, so why don't you guys just back off?!" Sakura snapped.

Screw it. I'd ask later.

Everyone else seemed to know what Sakura was referring to, as even Ino ducked her head at the mention of this 'mission'. I could see the veil of guilt in Sakura's expression, her brows knit and face flushed as she spoke.

"U-uh, right," Kiba said, turning to face me, "my bad, Emiya. Sorry."

"I..um, it's okay. No harm done, I guess. Except to the table." at my words, Sakura quickly pulled out the chopsticks and placed them back on her plate.

I think we were all incredibly relieved when Naruto suddenly appeared at the dining room's doorway. It was a much-needed distraction.

"Bad news guys," Naruto sighed as he walked towards the table. He fell into the empty cushion next to where Sasuke had been seated; Sasuke had still not yet returned from the bathroom.

"Where've you been, Naruto?" Sakura asked, unsubtly throwing a napkin over the hole she'd lodged in the table's surface. It was a fair questions, as it was already about half an hour into the dinner, and Naruto had just made his first appearance. Shisui, strangely as well, hadn't shown yet either, despite being the one to warn us to arrive on time.

"I was on a call," Naruto explained, waving around a smartphone that looked very similar to the once Shisui had given me, except its casing was bright orange. "apparently my dad won't be able to make it up here until tomorrow morning after all."

"I mean, that's fine, isn't it?" Ino said. "The Sand Siblings aren't due until tomorrow night anyways."

"Yeah, but he's going to miss helping us set up the training course!" Naruto whined. "He's done it every year until now. It's _tradition_."

"Well, we can't expect someone as busy as the mayor to attend every little event," Neji said. "it's impractical."

"Mayor this, mayor that," Naruto mumbled to himself, poking at Sasuke's dish of mostly uneaten curry. "obviously I know he's the mayor, but he's still my dad too, you know?"

"Naruto..." Hinata said sympathetically, leaning forward from her place three seats away.

"Naruto!" Lee called from his end of the table, where he'd been apparently successful in getting Shino, Shikamaru and apparently now Chouji, to try out his dish. The faces of all three boys had now turned completely red, though Lee himself seemed perfectly fine, the plate in front of him already cleared. "You have arrived! You must try the Curry of Life, my friend! It was most difficult to find, as Gai and I had to trek the mountains for four days until we came across the shop! Then we had to fight the shopkeeper's debtors, racing them across the mountain in a feat of youthful glory, and then—"

"Yeah sure," Naruto interrupted, obviously just wanting to stop one of Lee's rants in its tracks. "I'll give it a try!"

The table fell silent. We all glanced around at each other, wondering who would among us would step forward to warn the boy the first.

None of us, apparently.

"HOLY CRAP," Naruto screamed, rushing to stand up as the spoon fell from his mouth. "WHAT IS THIS?!"

"Ah yes!" Lee nodded fervently. "The effect is quite invigorating, is it not?! And most immediate!"

"I can't believe we let him do that," I chuckled, as most of the rest of the table burst into raucous laughter.

"_Neither can I_!" Naruto rasped, before dunking his entire face into a pitcher of water.

'

* * *

'

"Finally, it's onsen time!" Ino sang, lowering herself into the warm water. Sakura and I had already been stewing there for a few minutes, Sakura's long hair covering the tattoo drawn out on her shoulder. I noticed Ino, too, had left her hair down as well, even though her lengthy strands were getting wet as the ends slithered on the water's surface.

I'd been surprised to hear Yamato was on standby for the weekend, ready to drive us all the way down to the hot springs with little notice. Still, I was grateful to not have to make what would've been at least an hour's walk, seeing as we'd also decided to change into yukatas after dinner. The evening's chill had been nipping a bit at my skin through the thin fabric, but it made the warmth of the water all the more welcome.

"It's pretty empty tonight," Sakura grinned. "we pretty much have it all to ourselves."

It was true. According to Naruto, his godfather kept the onsen open to the public year-round, for a small entry fee that most of the Alliance had gotten waived. Still, thanks to its secluded location, there were only a few other girls milling about the springs, their laughs and chattering filling the air of the fenced-in baths.

I was glad to see that Sakura was in better spirits now, at least. None of us had brought up the chopsticks incident again after dinner, though I'd been debating whether or not to ask more about that subject. There wasn't much of a chance, however, as in that moment, something strange caught my eye.

"Hey," I said, staring at a girl across the misty pond. "does she look familiar to you guys?"

"Who?" Ino said, trying to fan the steam away with her face. "The brown-haired girl with the soap?"

"No," I shook my head, "the blonde one, alone near the fence."

Though we were sitting at opposite ends of the baths, several feet away, with a steaming cloud of fog that partially blocked my view of her face, I could have sworn I'd seen that girl somewhere before.

"Oh, I see her," Sakura said. "the one with pigtails and green eyes?"

"Yeah, I said slowly, "the... green..."

The mist settled, allowing me a better look, and suddenly my suspicions were confirmed. I froze, sinking into the water until it had engulfed me all the way up to my eyes.

Blonde pigtails, olive-green eyes, arrogant smirk.

Were my eyes deceiving me, or was that _exactly_ what Temari from the series would look like in real life?

"Uh, guys," I whispered, slowly reemerging to the surface, "are you _sure_ you don't know her?"

Ino and Sakura glanced over. "No? What about her?" Ino asked.

_They don't recognize her at all,_ I realized. Actually, that did make sense. This weekend was supposed to be their first time meeting the Sand Siblings, after all.

Something about this screamed _danger_. According to what everyone had said, none of the Sand Siblings were due until tomorrow. Even worse, Temari's presence also implied that the others, including Gaara, were close behind; if not already in attendance at the men's bath across the fence. I silently thanked the universe that the boys had decided to stay behind tonight, instead of joining us at the hot springs.

My heart stopped as I started to question the unthinkable. Was Sasuke right? Were they planning some kind of ambush? Was that why they'd failed to tell the Alliance they'd already arrived?

Though the Sand Siblings had ended up becoming some of Konoha's greatest allies in the series, they'd still posed a deadly threat right up until the point Naruto had befriended Gaara. And either way I couldn't be sure how similar, or different, this world's version of those three would be to the show.

_Maybe I should warn everyone,_ I thought, slowly reemerging from the water only to see a pair of green eyes staring right at me. My hands grasped at the rocks lining the wall behind me for balance as I reeled back in shock, my fingers slipping frantically on the smooth, wet surface.

"Hi there," Temari said.

How the hell did she get over here so fast?! I glanced behind her to see that Sakura and Ino were gone, having gotten up to gently help an older woman as she tried to settle herself into another part of the baths nearby. Unfortunately for me, they'd not noticed Temari's sudden presence either.

"Sorry to startle you," Temari smiled, holding out her hand, "but can you pass me that bucket behind you? Thanks."

"O..oh, sure," I said, turning to grab it. Since when had we had a bucket over here? "no problem..."

"By the way, I couldn't help but notice you were staring at me from over here," Temari continued, voice lowering, "hope we don't have a problem?"

"Of... course not...! Sorry, that...rude... I was just spacing out..." I twisted my head around to face her, bucket now in hand. As I did, I noticed Temari's gaze flickering up from my back.

My heart stopped for a second. From the look in her eyes, it'd almost seemed like she'd been searching for something...

_Had she been checking to see if I'd had the tattoo?_

"Great," she said, snapping the bucket from my hands, "bye, then."

I tried not to look as she slowly made her way over to the faucets, wrapping herself up with a towel as she did. Relief flooded my chest as Ino and Sakura returned, apologizing for their short absence.

"Did something happen while we were gone?" Sakura asked, slipping back into the water. "You look a little put out, Emiya."

"Oh no, is it too warm for you? You're not going to faint again, are you?!" Ino exclaimed.

"No..." I said, clutching the ends of my hair. Had I already gotten the tattoo, the short strands wouldn't have been long enough to cover it up like Ino and Sakura's. What would have happened, then, if Temari had seen the marking on my shoulder?

I was lucky I didn't have to find out. At least, not yet.

'

* * *

'

A/N: The Curry of Life comes from Episode 152 of the anime, FYI.


	5. Chapter 5: The Sand Siblings

Stranger Days

'

* * *

Chapter 5: The Sand Siblings

* * *

'

_EWOO! EWOO! EWOO!_

I shot up from my futon with a start, frazzled awake by the sound of a blaring alarm and the red-orange lights flashing in my periphery.

"Wha," I asked, rubbing at my left eye as the other darted around the room. I caught the glow of the same lights were going off past the paper wall we shared with Tenten and Hinata's room on the other side of ours, "what's going on? It's like a circus in here."

"We're not sure," Ino said hurriedly, pulling a blue jacket over her shoulders. She and Sakura were already at the foot of the closet, getting dressed in a flurry. "just stay here, Emiya, while we check it out."

"What? No, I'll go with you—"

"No! Don't leave this room, okay?!" Sakura's head snapped up from where she'd been lacing up her boots. As I met her hard green gaze, I realized it was the first time I'd ever witnessed us experiencing the same level of panic.

That was not comforting.

"It'll just be a few minutes. We'll be right back, promise," Ino's tone was significantly less harsh as she and Sakura took their leave.

"Got it," I murmured, watching as the two girls left. It was starting to get a little old, all this 'don't let Emiya wander off' talk. What was I, eight?

The sounds had come from the phones we'd had scattered around the rooms, though Ino and Sakura had taken theirs with them as they'd left. The noise died down after a few minutes, which was good, considering I hadn't really known how to turn it off anyways.

It all seemed like a bit much, especially after I checked my borrowed phone to see it was actually 6am. A red banner ran across the screen's, red words highlighted in black, reading the repeating strand of words: _INTRUDER ALERT INTRUDER ALERT_

Several messages were pouring in, from numbers I didn't even realize the phone had programmed in. One from Shino had me particularly concerned.

_'This is Shino Aburame. I am reporting that our security system has detected a group of intruders at the northern perimeter. All Alliance members are to meet there promptly and await further instructions. If you come across the intruder yourself, the order is to not engage, only stall and wait for backup.'_

Oh no.

An intruder? Could it be... the Sand Siblings?

...Shit.

My face was in my hands as I tried to comprehend, tried to rectify the situation in my mind.

I should've told everyone I'd seen Temari last night; but we'd gotten back from the onsen so late, I'd figured it could wait until morning...

And now, thanks to me, they were going in blind. Them being ambushed could very well be my own fault. For once, Sasuke's cynicism was bearing fruit.

The message had come from an app I hadn't noticed before, _Leaf Messenger_. The messenger held the names and numbers of everyone in the Alliance it seemed, as there were names I both did and didn't recognize. I quickly scrolled through to find Sakura and Ino's numbers before shooting them a quick text to ask them when they were getting back.

Nothing.

"Oh no," I muttered, glancing at the door. "no, no. Don't make me do this."

I'd failed to warn everyone about Temari, and now I was supposed to stand by while everyone got put in danger because of me?

No. That wasn't right.

With a groan, I threw on a t-shirt and jeans and ran out of the room.

'

* * *

'

The house had been practically empty when I'd left, except for the occasional maid running about, but they'd all seemed far too preoccupied to answer any of my questions.

Well. Guess that meant I'd be doing this on my own.

I pulled up a map on my borrowed phone, which told me we were currently located at the southern end of the mountain. Whatever this northern perimeter was, it happened to be all the way on the other side of the forest. That _would've_ been fine, as I'd prepared for a bit of a jog once I'd exited the area of the mountain house, only to realize:

The forest here? Absolutely insane.

I'd circled around to the edge of the main path several times now, trudging through the high, furling grasses and thickly packed trees. There were several times I thought I'd been walking a well-worn route, only realize I was actually standing on the edge a very precarious cliff. All the trees and markers, looked exactly the same, several signs grossly mislabeled, almost as if on purpose. It hadn't looked it from the house, but once you got into the thick of it, the spattering of trees became a bona-fide death trap maze.

_Of course._ Even the forest here couldn't be normal! Sure, I'd always been hopeless at navigating nature, but this was ridiculous. The map was a useless hinderance, rather than an aid, at this point.

To make matters wore, with all this time I'd been spending in the midst of the forest, my allergies couldn't be worse.

"_Achoo!_" My sneeze shook the trees around me, my eyes tearing up as I tried to blink out the pollen I'd collected in them during my fruitless run around the forest.

"Who's this?" a rough, sandpaper voice hissed from behind me.

Slowly, ever so slowly, I turned to see a large man towering over me. He wore a grey, leopard-print scarf and a ski mask, the only exposed part of his face was his eyes. The unfriendly glint in his dark irises giving me goosebumps.

Something about the outfit was familiar, but I couldn't put my finger on it.

"Uh... just a lost city kid," I said, trying not to sound as scared as I was, "I'm just... looking for my friends..."

"Really?" he said, voice dripping disbelief, "you know, I was given a memo on all these Alliance brats. Heard a lot of them were young; around your age, actually."

"The what?" I tried to act innocent. "An alliance? Of what?"

"Don't play dumb."

"...I'm not really playing."

"Right," he chuckled darkly as he stepped forward, "well, you're going to regret the day you thought it'd be fun to joke around with the Sound Syndicate."

_The Sound Syndicate? _

I swallowed hard before turning to run.

"Hey!"

It wasn't a great idea, I realized a few minutes later, when I was out of breath and had probably gone the equivalent of half a mile. I felt my heart pounding in my chest, so quick it was like one successive beat. On the bright side, I hadn't heard the intruder's footsteps behind me, so it seemed I was in the clear.

"Not so fast."

I froze. Deer in headlights was understating my expression, as the man jumped down from a tree branch and planted his boots deep in the dirt right before where I was standing.

He was so close our noses almost met. I screamed.

Half a moment later, I had barely turned to run again when he grabbed at the back of my shirt.

Next thing I knew, I was flying through the air.

_Slam_.

"_Ow!_" I groaned. My back had hit the ground hard, but luckily I hadn't landed in a way that had me wrapped around a tree. I groaned, my elbow having hit the root of a large cedar, before looking up to see the scarf-clad man approaching again.

"You damn Alliance brats," he hissed, "I don't know how the hell you managed to figure out our plans, but you were stupid to break off from the group by yourself. Makes it easier to pick you off, one by one."

"I don't have_ any_ idea what you're talking about," I said, rubbing my elbow as I scurried backwards. I felt my back hit the bark of the tree behind me. Great. I was trapped.

"Yeah right," the man growled, pulling out a dagger from his side. The glint of the metal in the morning sun blinded me for a second, my mind barely registering it as the point was brought up in my direction.

He lunged.

"No!" I cried, arms flying up in a last-ditch attempt to defend myself.

_SQUEESKH._

The sound was one of something sharp tearing through skin, ripping tissue, and then crushing bone. I could hear the sound, clear as day, of the metal slicing through all of it, the give of each layer growing explosively loud. How could it be so loud, yet completely painless at the same time?

Because it hadn't been me.

I looked up slowly, realizing what had just happened as I stared into the eyes of Itachi Uchiha.

His hooded jacket was covered, and I mean _covered,_ in a masterpiece of blood. The shades of red varied with the age of the splatters, the dried crimson clumped under the bright scarlet of the fresher spills.

Itachi pulled the sword out from the intruder's back. Wordlessly, the man fell off the blade; cleanly, easily, only leaving a small trickle of red on Itachi's sword as he went. He'd been flicked off like it was nothing, eyes still bulging as his body hit the floor. In Itachi's other arm he already held a similarly dressed man in tow, dangling off his grip by the middle.

This must've been a dream. I mean, I knew it really _wasn't_ at this point, but I was going to tell myself it was, or else I wouldn't be able to cope.

Because this. Was. Insane.

As Itachi's eyes darted down to meet mine, I realized a fat set of tears were streaming down my face. I couldn't just chalk it up to allergies this time.

A mocking leaf blew in the wind between us as we stared each other down for a passing moment, him covered in blood, and my crying face.

"..." Itachi slowly, ever so slowly, reached out his blood-covered hand. I held back another scream of horror as his fingers drew closer to my face—

_This is it. This is it. I'm going to die. Itachi's going to kill me because I saw him murder this man. Damn it! I knew I never should have come here this weekend!_

—only to watch him drop something light and crinkly into my lap.

He pulled the sword back into its sheathe on his back, picked up the corpse in his other arm, and then quickly retreated back into the forest without a single word.

I glanced down at my legs to see what looked to be... a small, plastic-wrapped red-bean bun resting atop them.

_...What a strange dream,_ I thought. I sat there for a few more moments, waiting for my heartbeat to slow, before standing up and walking back the direction I'd came from.

'

* * *

'

"Augh," I groaned, trying to block out the morning sun with my arm. It was mostly shaded by the thick foliage around me anyways, making it the unsettling combination of both sunny and cold in the damp trench I'd managed to stumble into. Somehow, I'd only ended up getting even more lost since my encounter with Itachi and that strange man.

Dead man, I realized, before shuddering. I was miserable, cold. Lost. And I was pretty sure I'd just witnessed a murder. Maybe he hadn't even been Itachi's first kill that day, considering the Uchiha had been carrying another man under his arm. Corpse, likely.

This was the most surreal morning ever.

I heard a _squish_ as I stepped forward, almost thrown off balance as I felt my foot sink into the ground. I'd stepped in the bank of a trickling river, and now my white sneakers completely submerged in the wet mud at its side.

"Ugh," I sighed, trying to kick off the mud. Somehow, it only managed to deepen the ground's hold on my foot, and I felt myself sinking further in. "just what I needed... damn it!"

I tried again, all my efforts failing as I tried to remove my foot from the ground. It was useless.

This was just what I needed right now. My foot was stuck.

Was this quicksand? In a forest? In the middle of Japan?

What was wrong with this place? No wonder everyone had told me not to wander around. Even without all the murder attempts, the forest itself was death trap after death trap.

"Help!" I shouted, looking down to see the ground had come up closer than it'd been a few minutes ago, the mud already risen to my knees. I was definitely sinking faster now.

"_Heeelp!_" I shouted again, wondering if Itachi was still in the area, and then wondering if I even wanted the help of a man I'd just seen kill a guy in front of me. Probably not. I waited for a moment with a sigh, fingers brushing over the wrapped bun I'd stuffed in my pocket after Itachi had unceremoniously presented me with it. Well, if I was stuck here for good, at least I'd have food.

Of course, unless he'd poisoned it.

_Wait_, I thought, _was_ that why he'd given me the sweet? Had it been poisoned to take out the only witness of his crime?

No, that's crazy. He'd had a sword right there. If he'd wanted to kill me, well, I had literally had my back up against a wall. Tree. Same thing.

"Finally. Found you," a girl's figure was suddenly in front of me, breaking me out of my reverie.

I started. "I...It's you!" I whispered.

Temari.

This was the _worst day ever. _

I immediately turned to run, but of course, that didn't work out, seeing as I was still stuck in in a pile of quicksand.

_Emiya, you dumbass,_ I thought. In my hurry, I'd only ended up almost falling forward with my hands in the mud.

"What the hell? Wait!" Temari shouted, grabbing me by the arm right before I could land face-first into the sludge. She attempted to pull me back, but when I didn't budge, she frowned and called out to someone behind her.

"Hey, I think she's stuck."

It gave me the second I needed to take in her appearance. Her plain, black-and-red kimono didn't really stand out up here in the mountains, though it was a little traditional for city-wear. The kicker was that behind her rested a familiar, long, black case, though I couldn't make much sense of that. If there really was a giant fan in there, she wouldn't be able to swing it around with much luck in a world without chakra.

At her call, a boy emerged from the thicket behind her, the sun hitting his dark-ringed eyes and red hair in a saturation of light. Gaara, in the flesh and blood.

.._.Crap._

He too, was wearing a strange outfit in the form of a turtleneck and maroon jacket with long, draping coattails; and of course, that giant gourd he was so famous for, was strapped tight on his back.

"Itachi told us he saw you wandering around out here, so we came to retrieve you," Gaara crossed his arms as he approached, taking in my half-submerged appearance. "but it seems you've gotten yourself into trouble again already."

I stared as he came up on my right. "Did... did you just say Itachi?"

"Yes. I'm sure you have many questions, but we can explain more later. For now, I ask that you to cooperate with us. My name is Gaara," he said, "Gaara of the Sand."

I wanted to make a joke about how 'of the Sand' wasn't really a last name, but it wasn't really the time.

"I'm not sure it's the time for introductions, you guys," Temari said, gesturing to my sunken legs. The mud was past my knees now, much to my horror. I would never get this slurry out of my jeans. "you want some help or not, kid?"

I should've said no immediately, seeing as I'd_ just_ been attacked... but then again, my attacker had claimed to be a part of the Syndicate, not the Sand Sibling's faction.

Still, I needed to make sure.

"...Which side are you guys on?" I risked meeting her gaze, hoping the meaning behind my words was clear enough.

"Yours." came Temari's clipped reply. "For now."

It was silent for a few moments before I gave a short, hesitant nod.

Don't get me wrong, I was wholly aware I was playing with fire. They could be lying about being on our side. It seemed like no coincidence they were here early when we'd just gotten an intruder alert, and their mention of Itachi's name wasn't exactly bringing me the assurance it should right now.

But if they'd planned to kill me, they'd have just let the quicksand do its job. Whatever it was they were here for, I was willing to be comforted by the fact they were at least planning to let me live through it.

Temari_ hmmph'd,_ her gloved grip fast around my left arm seconds later. I flinched as Gaara followed suit on my right, which didn't go unnoticed.

His blank expression grew icy as he lowered his hands back to his side.

"I need to pull on this side while Temari pulls on your other," he said, voice low, "otherwise, we won't be able to get you out. If you'd rather I didn't touch you, I can get my brother—"

"I know. It's just... um," I felt a bit embarrassed as I glanced down, "I hit that elbow earlier, so can you please just be gentle? It's a little sore."

"...I see." Gaara said, gaze darting to the left for a fraction of a second. "Then, it's... not because...? No," he shook his head, before his bringing his arms back up to my side. "nevermind. May I, then?"

I nodded. As promised, his grip on my right wasn't too strong as they pulled me up, and a few moments later I found myself plopping down with a sigh of relief on the less saturated parts of the trench.

I had never been so glad to see dry dirt before.

"You look exhausted," Temari chuckled, tone mocking, "even though _we_ were the ones that did all the work."

"...It's been a morning."

"You can wash off the mud in the river," Gaara gestured at the nearby stream of water, "so you aren't tracking all of that in once we bring you back to the safe house."

"Safe house?"

"Yes," Gaara said, "Minato has asked that we bring you back there promptly."

_"_Minato? as in,_ Minato?" _I asked, but was doubly ignored as Temari pulled me to the river.

What were they doing with Minato?

I'd get my answer soon, it seemed. After I wiped down the mud from my pants and shoes, the two siblings led me down a jagged path towards a clearing near the east of the forest.

As we walked, I realized the safe house, as they had called it, was more like a small hunting cabin. Camouflaged by a large spatter of trees, the wooden exterior blended in almost too well with its surroundings.

"Coming?" Temari asked. I had willingly followed them up until this point, mostly because I was curious to see if Minato was actually here, but also because I knew my waterlogged shoes and hopeless ability to get lost in this forest meant I wouldn't be able to outrun these two. That same plan hadn't worked out that well with the intruder, after all, and my shoes had even been dry back then.

As I entered the hunting cabin, I was greeted by a quaint living room, a small dogwood table, and a man already kneeling on a cushion besides it. Instead of hanging a moose head like the stereotypes would've had me expect, the owner had a large carved frog mounted above the fireplace lit on the opposite wall of the sparse kitchen.

Weird, but I wasn't going to ask.

I glanced down to see the spattering of blood at the entrance, which had trailed onto the patterned rug covering a chunk of the hardwood flooring.

"Sorry about that," the man at the table said, following my gaze. I looked up to see Minato Namikaze smiling at me through the steam clouding out around the cup of tea sitting before him. With his full head of bright yellow hair and soft, almost childlike blue eyes, he looked far too young to be a mayor, let alone a father. "Itachi must have trailed that in just now. His mind's a little preoccupied, he probably didn't even notice."

It seemed a little unfair that I'd been made to wash off my mud in the cold river before entering here, but Itachi was allowed to track blood all over the place. Then again, I wasn't really about to get hung up on etiquette with this group.

"Itachi's here?" I glanced around.

"Just missed him," a boy said as he kicked forward off the wall he'd been leaning on next to Minato.

Kankuro. It wasn't the cat-shaped hood that spoke to his identity, so much as the vibrant purple facial markings—paint, not tattoos. He nodded to Temari and Gaara as they entered the cabin right behind me, "he left again right after telling us you were here. Didn't seem to care enough to pick you up himself, though."

I ignored that last part, more hung up on the fact that all three Sand Siblings were gathered here, and I had no idea why.

Well... At least Minato was here too. He'd stop them if they did, in fact, decide to try to kill me, right?

...Right?

"Please, take a seat Emiya." Minato gestured to the cushion across from him at the table, "Sorry it's a little crowded in here."

I hesitantly lowered myself into the cushion, glancing around to see Gaara settling in the corner of the room with his arms crossed as he stood against the far wall. Temari and her brother did the same, though the blonde had elected to rest her hands on her hips instead.

"It's good to see you again," Minato continued, drawing back my attention as he handed me a mug of freshly poured tea, "it's been a few months, hasn't it?"

"Oh, um. Yes..." I said, though this was definitely_ my_ first time meeting the man, "it has been. A few months."

"How is school going? I heard you just finished your first week."

"It's fine," I said, absently swishing the tea around in the mug, "the workload hasn't really revved up yet, though we do already have a lot of homework this weekend, which I haven't gotten to, and can someone please explain to me what's going on? I thought the Sand Siblings weren't supposed to come until later. Are you guys all... working together?"

"In a way," Gaara said from his place in the corner of the room. "though only very recently."

I turned in my cushion, eyes widening.

"I should explain," Minato cut in, "I know we told everyone they were going to arrive much later, but we got a tip that the Sound Syndicate was going to try to infiltrate this location this weekend."

"What?! How did they know we'd be here this weekend?" I asked, head whipping back to face him. "Wasn't this all supposed to be a big secret?"

"We don't know. But something similar happened in the Setagaya ward a few years back, back when the Ota gangs tried to infiltrate their land, so I called upon their expertise to help." Minato explained, "Unfortunately, it meant we had to initiate their entry into the Alliance earlier than planned. Their strategy worked well, however; as of half an hour ago, the last of the intruders have been taken down."

Taken down. I remembered the sound of Itachi's sword slicing through the man's back, and tried not to shudder.

"They had this whole thing planned out to a T, you know," Kankuro added, "some of them were even planning to ambush you guys at the hot springs last night."

"Wait, that's why you were there?" I asked, glancing at Temari. "To stop them from attacking us on our way out?"

"Oh no, I stopped them on your way _in_," Temari laughed, "then I took a little soak afterwards to reward myself. But you knew what threw me? Even though I recognized Ino and Sakura from the pictures Minato showed us, they were acting all chummy with you, a girl I'd never seen before. You didn't have the tattoo either, plus you just don't really _look_ like any Yakuza I'd ever seen."

"Um, I..."

"Don't worry," Temari smirked, "Minato explained afterwards that you were just the fresh meat. Good thing I didn't jump the gun on that though, huh?"

"Yeah... good thing." I winced.

"But if you're so new, why the hell were you wandering around this place alone?" Kankuro asked. "Don't you know this is called the _Forest of Death_ for a reason? It's why the Sound Syndicate took so long to invade this place. Even they didn't want to deal with navigating this hellhole on their own."

"I didn't know that," I said, exasperated, "why would you just expect me to know that?" No wonder I had almost died at least twice here today.

"Now, now," Minato said sympathetically, "I think Emiya's been through a bit of a fright. Why don't you guys go see if Itachi needs help burning the bodies, and we can meet back here once you're done?"

_Burning the bodies._ The words had rolled off his tongue like they were nothing.

The siblings nodded before exiting the cabin, leaving me and Minato to converse between ourselves.

"Itachi knew, then," I realized, "who else?"

"Shisui and Itachi were the only ones that knew outside of the upper ranks. I told them last night."

"But why keep everyone else in the dark? Wouldn't it have been better to give them more time to prepare for these intruders?"

"Only Alliance members knew about this meeting," Minato said slowly, "even the Sand Siblings weren't given the exact location until a few hours before they left their own ward."

"...So you're saying someone within the Alliance tipped off the Sound Syndicate." I said, lightly horrified. "Isn't that... kind of huge?"

"I won't lie to you. It is. But don't worry about it, Emiya," Minato shook his head, "we have many of our best on this already, working on uncovering the mole. And in time, all things come to light. The truth always finds a way."

The truth always finds a way. When, then, would they find out my truth? That I wasn't the Emiya they thought I was? The one that Ino and Sakura thought they were friends with? The one he'd spoken to, all those months ago?

"...Why are you telling _me_ all this, then?" I asked. "Even when you're keeping it from all the others."

"Well, I'd thought about it after I remembered the conversation we had when you first asked to join," Minato smiled, "don't you remember?"

I seriously didn't. And wait, had he said I had _asked_ to join?

This world's Emiya must have had way bigger balls than I did.

"And besides, you're the newest member, as well as a last-minute addition to this trip," Minato continued, "meaning you didn't get a copy of the real map for this location. And like Kankuro said, one of the reasons the Syndicate has taken so long to approach us here is due to the difficult terrain. The fact that they made it through the forest so quickly means the mole had already shared the real map with them."

"Oh, thank God," I said, hunching over in relief. At least I was in the clear on that.

"Were you surprised?" Minato asked suddenly.

"What?"

"Itachi mentioned you saw something quite gruesome this morning," Minato mused, "and that you seemed... frazzled by it."

Maybe Itachi hadn't necessarily said the word _crying _to Minato_,_ but he might've unknowingly implied it, as from his tone I could tell Minato fully understood what had happened during that encounter in the forest.

Mortifying.

"I did explain all these risks when we first met... But now that you've seen it for yourself, has your mind changed?"

"I..." This was my chance to voice my fears, to get out of what this world's Emiya had somehow gotten us into. Maybe everyone else was at ease with these constant flirts with death, but _I_ was the only member without the skills to get themselves out of the danger that seemed to come in waves within the Alliance's ranks. I'd survived today on luck alone.

Next time, I might not be so lucky.

...So why was I hesitating?

"Why... why me?" I had to ask. I wasn't sure why, but I just needed to know. "I mean, if I asked—I mean, _when_ I asked to join, you didn't have to take me. So why did you?"

"Well, to be honest, I felt like bringing you in would help us learn to change our ways. It's about time we did."

I tilted my chin up to meet his eyes, clear pools of swimming sincerity.

"We've had a violent past. I'll be the first to admit that. We terrorized, lied, cheated, and stole in previous generations to get where we are. Long before we were an alliance, we were all at war with each other. And some were willing to kill anyone, even family, to win those wars. But I don't want that for our children. _My_ child."

Naruto. Of course. This wasn't his show anymore, yet all road still somehow led back to him.

"That's why, a decade and a half ago I formed this Alliance. And now, I want to reform our reputation. To no longer be known as the instigators of violence, but the defenders of our hometowns."

Thinking back on it, I remembered Hinata mentioning it once, that she'd felt bad for fighting at school because of the impact it'd have on their group's reputation. It explained how little they spoke about the Alliance at school as well, though I'd just assumed that was to avoid being expelled.

"But it's been a long time," Minato continued, "we're out of touch with what a life without needless violence is like. Our families have been so entwined with the idea of succeeding at all costs for so long, it'd become difficult to imagine living any other way. That's why we needed someone like you, someone who understands right and wrong outside of our own clouded judgement to keep us accountable. Someone," he paused, "who knows a life of peace, of safety and security, and why they're things worth fighting for. And to top it all off, someone who is brave enough to risk leaving that comfort, even for just a little, to convince others to strive for that life for themselves."

No, no. That hadn't been _me_. It'd been this world's Emiya. I wanted to stay in my peace. I didn't want danger. I wanted to scream that out to Minato, but I couldn't. The words wouldn't leave my mouth.

So I sat there, gaping, as he finished his tale.

"But of course, I couldn't convince everyone to let you in on ideals alone. Luckily, we'd also needed a replacement for Sakura at that time."

"Sakura?"

"Yes. She was our newest member before you, and this was a job only a fresh face could manage. As you know, a lot of our members are well-known entities, both in the surface world, and amongst those in the underground. Now that the Sound Syndicate is expanding their efforts to their surrounding territories, many of us can't travel to certain wards outside of Alliance borders without their notice; and when we do, it's at the risk of being recognized and attacked. You don't have that problem, however, since you're not associated with the Alliance yet. Though Sakura had done her best in this role for years, unfortunately, her identity was discovered late last winter."

Ah. So that explained the pink-haired girl's reaction at dinner last night.

"So what... What does that entail? What would I be doing that you guys can't, outside of your borders?"

"There are some... packages we're hoping you'll be able to deliver to certain members living in other wards. Thanks to the Syndicate's resources, they've been able to hack security cameras, cross-reference train tickets, bribe police officers, and more, just to stay on the lookout for our members."

"And these packages absolutely _have_ to be delivered in person?"

"Yes. We can't trust the mail system between these wards now, thanks to the Sound Syndicate paying off government officials as well."

Well. This all sounded appropriately terrifying.

"I'm afraid I can't go into more detail than that as of now. But it's as I'd said, I would understand if you've had a change of heart. Your first mission with us wasn't until next weekend anyways." Minato smiled, "There's no shame in backing out, Emiya. I know you've seen a lot today. It's better to do it now than later, at least."

"You'd really going to let me back out?" I said, incredulous. "Even after telling me all that?"

"Of course. That offer has always been on the table." Minato continued, "And like I said, I haven't even gotten into the details yet. As long as it's before your first mission, I'll make sure you can get out, make it as if our paths never crossed. You'll go back to your normal life immediately. We can even have you transferred to another school with an art program just as good as Konoha High's, if you'd rather not see the members at school as well. There'll be nothing standing in your way, if that's what you decide."

The offer was clear, then. All I had to do was say I wanted out before next weekend, and they would disappear from my lives. This would all go away. I could even transfer schools... Knowing that Minato was mayor, it really wouldn't be that difficult for him to help me do so.

But then, everything would be gone. Ino and Sakura doing my nails in the morning. Watching Sasuke and Naruto bicker at lunch. Painting class with Shisui, giggling at all the girls fawning over Itachi with Yakumo. It would all be gone?

I'd only spent a week here, a very frightful, surprising week... but it hadn't all been bad.

"...I see," I nodded. "I'll... let you know what I decide, then."

"Great," Minato smiled, standing up from his seat at the table. "now, let's get to it."

"To what?"

"What we all came here this weekend for, of course. It's time we introduced everyone to our new friends."

'

* * *

'

"I can't believe the Sound Syndicate actually made it past our defenses," Sasuke seethed. "and my _brother _got to take all the credit for wiping them out."

"_I_ can't believe Minato just showed up with the Sand Siblings like it was nothing," Shikamaru muttered. "it's weird timing, isn't it?"

After our return, Minato's presence seemed to change the atmosphere at the mountain house. The air had a new, lively energy to it, everyone running up to him to chatter excitedly. I had watched the man conversing easily with maids and Alliance members alike, and soon there was no doubt in my mind that this man was a mayor. You'd never meet a more natural leader.

Still, it didn't change the fact that things were still a little tense, considering our trip had been invaded by the very enemies they'd thought could be avoided this weekend.

"I mean, it's not that weird..." Shikamaru's gaze snapped to me, and I flinched. Though he clearly noticed my unease he said nothing, instead bringing his gaze back up towards where Minato was introducing everyone to the siblings.

We were seated at the same tables from dinner last night, though thankfully there was no Curry of Life in sight. Instead, Minato had gone around the room to introduce the Sand Siblings, making the rounds on our side first before bringing them over to the other end of the table.

"_I_ can't believe you ran off, Emiya, after we specifically told you not to," Sakura frowned, turning to me. She and Ino had been intensely peeved when I'd arrived back with Minato, especially after I'd failed to provide truthful explanation as to why I'd been out of the room for so long.

"Sorry. I just wanted to see if you guys were okay, but I got a little... turned around."

"You got turned around for that long, and didn't think to call us?" Ino demanded.

I didn't want to mention I'd been a little busy running from a Sound Syndicate member before falling into a pit of quicksand, only to be saved by the Sand Siblings. Not only had Minato ask me to keep it all under wraps, but it probably would've just made the two even madder to hear about it.

Sakura opened her mouth to further lecture me when Naruto cut her off.

"Well, _I_ can't believe they agreed to enter the Alliance already," Naruto said excitedly, "we didn't even need to meet them in person for them to want to join forces! They probably already knew how awesome we are!"

I glanced over to Naruto to see he'd changed into a strange new getup, now sporting a black band with an orange swirl on his forehead, as well as a black long coat.

"Oh god," Ino crinkled her nose. "don't tell me you're wearing _that_."

"So much for first impressions," Sakura sighed as Naruto stuck out his tongue.

"Drop the old-fashioned gear already, Naruto." Kiba complained from his left, "You're making us look bad."

"He doesn't need the outfit to do that," Sasuke said blithely. He stood up, excusing himself to take a call, as Naruto's ears reddened.

"Hey!" Naruto crossed his arms, "We gotta show the Sand Siblings we honor our roots, you know?! I mean, look at them! They came in with all their traditional costumes on! That one guy's even put on all that face paint, but none of you are giving _him_ crap!"

"Yeah, well, it looks fine on _them_. _Our_ ancestors are probably rolling over in their graves right now, watching you prance around in that horrendous thing." Ino scolded.

"Well, what would you know?!"

Minato whistled for attention at the front of the room.

"First off, I would like to thank you all for being here. This marks an important day in our alliance's history. We're shifting gears from what we've done for decades," Minato said, "it won't be easy, and not everyone will agree. Most of our enemies, in fact, are already trying to stop it. But, even so, the wheels are in motion. We won't turn back now. We simply can't."

The end of his speech was met with a booming round of applause. Like I said; a natural leader.

"Now then," Minato continued, "next on the schedule is the heir meeting. Is everyone here?"

The room suddenly quieted when Itachi appeared at the door.

"Here," Itachi said coolly. I gazed down at the floor, though it was clear he wasn't looking in my direction anyways. He'd changed out of his bloody clothing into a dark grey jacket and slacks. Luckily Sasuke wasn't here, or else he would've been furious to see he and his brother were wearing almost identical outfits today.

"Perfect. Gaara and the others will sit in on this meeting as well," Minato said, ushering Itachi and the Sand Siblings into another room through a door to the right.

Kiba, who was now carrying a small ball of fur in the front of his shirt, followed them in at a brisk pace. A few moments later, Ino, Shikamaru and Chouji also joined them, Ino waving her goodbye as she went. Sakura stretched before informing me she was needed in another meeting with Tenten and Lee in another room, so I waited alone for their return at the now emptying table.

The sound of footsteps caught my attention as I watched a few more Alliance members walk up to the room.

"Hello, Emiya," Hinata said quietly, smiling in my direction. Shino followed suit, nodding his greeting as they stalked past.

"Hey, Hinata."

Sasuke pulled up behind her, having just returned from his call, before looking around the room. "Where is everyone?"

"Meetings," I explained.

His brow furrowed. "Were there meetings scheduled this early in the evening?" he asked, glancing at the entrance of the next room.

"...You didn't know?" I asked, surprised.

"Tch," he put his hands in his pockets, "that idiot probably just forgot to tell me. Which room?"

I pointed to the door Naruto had gone through. Sasuke headed over, but was suddenly stopped by Naruto as he slid the door open.

"Sorry, Sasuke." Naruto gave him a sheepish grin, eyes darting back towards the meeting room to make sure Itachi was out of view. "This meeting's for family heirs only. The rest of you guys, come on in."

Sasuke scowled, watching as Shino and Hinata stepped in after Naruto, sliding the door shut behind them. We were now alone in the room together, one angry Uchiha and me.

"That idiot Naruto..." Sasuke murmured. "I can't believe someone as useless as him is a heir. I'm stronger than him. _I_ should be in that room."

_Wow,_ I thought, incredulous. _Even changing worlds couldn't put a dent in this rivalry. _

I knew how this song goes. Best not to let his resentment fester, or things could get out of hand.

"Uh, Sasuke," I said, walking over to pull at his arm. "why don't we go... see the view from the balcony?"

He glared. "The balcony?"

"Yeah, it must be nice, from way up here."

His expression only hardened. "Are you up to something?"

"No..."

He gave a suspicious _hmph_, but still allowed me to drag him by the sleeve all the way out of the dining room and up the stairs.

As we walked to the balcony, Neji was already there, sitting at a table with a tray of tea.

"Ugh," Sasuke sighed, pulling his arm from my grasp. "not you."

"Back at you." Neji murmured, gesturing to the tray. "Help yourselves, though."

I shrugged, taking a seat next to the long-haired boy. Sasuke hesitated for a moment, before following my motion, and Neji promptly poured us two glasses of hot, fragrant tea.

We'd just barely caught the sunset in time. The sky was flush with the red and orange hues, our faces basking in the gentle glow.

"I used to insist on sitting in on those meetings as well," Neji said casually, as if he didn't notice the way Sasuke tensed at the subject. I wanted to groan aloud, but unlike Neji, I knew when to refrain. "but it only ever served to make Hinata feel worse about the situation."

"It's not about their feelings," Sasuke growled, "I deserve to be in there. I'm a much more worthy candidate for heir than Itachi, and I'm_ leagues_ better than Naruto."

"I agree." Neji said, "You and I have always been top of our class. We deserve it more than anyone. But that's simply not how birthright works."

The two boys stared off solemnly at the view of the tree line, as if contemplating some large, overbearing thought, quietly sipping at their tea as they did.

"Uh..." I watched as the wayward leaves bobbed in the translucent green liquid of my own cup, dying to break the heavy silence, "Well, I've never been top of my class at anything, but I feel like if I were you guys, I might be grateful?"

"What?" Neji's gaze hardened as he looked towards me.

"I mean, some things happen for a reason." I continued, "They say second place always tries harder."

"Hah," Sasuke scoffed. "is that supposed to make us feel better?"

"Well, it's true. Do you think you would've made it to this level if you didn't have something to prove? You're both already naturally talented, so you could've easily just skated by on that your whole lives without lifting a finger. But instead, you worked you butts off and focused on honing your skills because it was the best way to prove to the world, and probably to yourselves, that you're better than the person everyone said you'd only ever place second to." I shrugged. "And look where it's gotten you. I mean, sometimes I wish I could be as strong or as smart as you guys, but even if I lived three lifetimes, I would probably never catch up."

It was silent for a moment.

"I almost forgot who I was talking to," Sasuke murmured, "no wonder Minato chose you. You're just like her."

"...What do you mean?"

His answer was interrupted by my phone buzzing, and I looked down to see I had a text from Shisui.

_'Hey, I had to head out early,'_ it said, _'but I gave your phone to Sasuke this morning. You can get it back from him whenever.'_

I glanced up at Sasuke.

"Sasuke?"

"Yeah?"

"Can I get my phone back now? Shisui said he gave mine to you."

"...Hn." Sasuke nodded, pulling out my flip phone from his pocket.

"Thanks," I said, reaching my hand out to take it. Sasuke paused, the palm holding my phone stopped midair.

"You got that new one from Aburame, right?"

"Oh, yeah," I said, pushing the white-cased device over to his side of the table, "I can return this to you in exchange for mine."

"Right," Sasuke said, standing from his seat suddenly, "or maybe don't." He turned and flung my flip phone, hard, over the balcony and off the side of the mountain.

"WHAT THE HELL?!" I cried, running up to the rail to see my precious cellular device falling into oblivion. "What are you doing?!"

He looked smug. "Guess you'll just have to keep the new one instead, then."

"What?!"

"...Uchihas," Neji sighed, bringing his tea back to his lips.

'

* * *

'

A/N: I tend to write all of my stories one chapter ahead just to make sure I have something to post every month regardless of my work schedule, but I screwed up and fell behind with Perfect Timing, my only other story right now; sooo I'm switching this story's upload schedule with PT's since this chapter was already written.

lmao but no worries this'll still upload monthly anyways (you can check out my profile for any other scheduling updates in the future). I just like to have those dates set so I won't put off writing/publishing this stuff. At least that means an early release for this chapter! Yaayyyy


	6. Chapter 6: The Konoha Dome

Stranger Days

'

* * *

Chapter 6: The Konoha Dome

* * *

'

It was Sunday afternoon, and therefore time for us all to return to Konoha proper. After everything that happened, it'd all ended so quickly, it felt like I'd barely had time to process it all.

"It's too bad the training exercise got rescheduled because of the intruders," Ino said, "I guess you'll just have to see it next time, Emiya."

"Yeah," I nodded, staring out the window of the limo. Naruto was napping in a seat in the back, while Sasuke was busy watching something on his phone.

"You okay? You kept waking up in the middle of the night," Sakura turned to face me. I could see she was working on our weekend's history assignment, something I sorely needed to get to.

"I'm fine," was my only reply.

Well, of course that was a lie. I'd suffered a night filled with nightmares, seeing as I'd just witnessed _murder-_straight up, real life murder—last night. The scene played through my head on repeat. Itachi stabbing the man right before my eyes —the intruder's crumpled form dropping to the ground.

Suffice to say, I was excited to get back and see my mom. Not only was I craving a warm hug right now, but I desperately needed to hear her explain how the hell my asking to join this group had also somehow gotten her involved, if Ino had been telling the truth earlier this week.

The drive went by swiftly, and soon enough I found myself at the door of my apartment.

"Emiya!" my mom cried, pulling me into her arms as I emerged from the front door. "You're back!"

I couldn't blink back the tears as she embraced me, chalking it up to how much I missed her when she asked why I was crying.

"Oh, but look," I said with a sniffle by way of distraction, "I got a new phone." I pulled out the smartphone Sasuke had forced upon me. I'd been admiring its features on the drive back. Might as well warm up to the upgrade, now that it was happening.

"What?" my mom blinked. "I've been trying to get you to get rid of that old thing for months. Why the change of heart?"

Though my mom still seemed confused, she didn't say much else about the subject once I'd explained the situation, considering she already had news of her own. I'd not been home from my trip an hour, and it seemed she was already packing herself.

"Really? A trip overseas?_ Now_?" I exclaimed, setting down my own bag as she rushed around the apartment to collect her things. I watched as socks, blazers, and an extra pair of heels flew into her small carry-on luggage bag.

"I know, I'm sorry," she said apologetically, "but it's an emergency. One of my colleagues just got me on a once-in-a-lifetime case, but this guy's getting the death penalty unless I head over there now. I'll be back before you know it, I promise?"

My shoulders slumped. I had really wanted to ask her about this Yakuza business, especially now that we had a chance to back out. "And when exactly is that?"

"One week, tops," she said. "if things go well, maybe even less than that."

Well. Minato had said I only had until this weekend to decide, so that was really cutting it close.

_Looks like I'd have to make this decision without her, _I thought glumly, watching her walk out the door.

'

* * *

'

"Whoa," Yakumo said as we walked up to our painting class, "what's going on there?"

I followed her gaze to see I heard Itachi and Shisui whispering lowly right outside the classroom. Yakumo and I had arrived quite early, so the hallway was empty except for the four of us.

"I don't know," I frowned. Itachi's face, usually an expressionless mask of stone, had a rare display of emotions running across it. His pinch lips and furrowed brows indicated a very unpleasant conversation was happening.

Shisui glanced back when he heard our footsteps approaching.

"Hey guys," Shisui grinned, waving our way. Itachi's face smoothed over, his feet quick as he moved over to the side of the hallway to give us wide berth. "you have an exciting weekend?"

"You could say that," I replied dryly. Shisui's grin only widened. Yakumo glanced between us with a sigh.

"Can you move?" she asked Shisui, "You're blocking the door."

"Oh. Sorry," Shisui said, side-stepping as Yakumo entered. I hesitated at the door instead of following her in, glancing between the boys before letting my voice dropping to a whisper.

"What's all this about?" I took a step back so I was no longer in view of the classroom, "Does it have something to do with this weekend?"

"Nah," Shisui shook his head, "it's just some personal stuff. Don't worry about it, Emiya."

I frowned. Personal stuff? Between Shisui and Itachi? I wondered what that could possibly be about.

"Why don't you tell her?"

I froze, eyes darting to Itachi's. It was the first time he had addressed me since the... you know.

Shisui glared. "Itachi."

"Well?" Itachi said, voice low and cold, "if you're going to be so reckless, perhaps it's best to get a second opinion."

"Itachi," Shisui groaned. "c'mon, don't bring her into this."

"If you won't hear it from me, maybe you'll listen to her."

"What?" I asked, confused. "What's going on?"

"Itachi doesn't think I should go to my baseball game tomorrow," Shisui said reluctantly. "even though it's the first of the season."

"Why not?"

"It's in Bunkyo."

My eyes widened.

"What? But couldn't you be recognized?" my voice rose slightly as I looked around to make sure the hall was still, in fact, empty. "I heard from Minato that it's really dangerous for you guys to leave here..."

Especially to Bunkyo, the very home of the Sound Syndicate. Even _I_ knew how risky this would be for him.

"Exactly," Itachi murmured. "Emiya's entire existence in our group is based on that fact."

"Well," Shisui shrugged, brushing past me towards the door himself, "I didn't decide on the venue, and I'm going. So that's that."

"I don't understand," came Itachi's hard retort, "why you'd put your own life at risk for such a singular, fleeting event?"

"You _know_ why I need to be there!" Shisui suddenly snapped, turning back on his heel. "I'm going, okay?! End of conversation!"

My jaw dropped. _Whoa. _

I hadn't known Shisui for very long, but even I could tell this was not the boy's usual behavior.

Itachi, too, seemed thrown off by the other boy's tone. "I... Shisui."

"I mean it," Shisui seethed, "and that's the last time I'm going to discuss this."

He rushed into the classroom in a huff, practically slamming it closed behind him as he did; leaving me to stare blankly in his wake. Alone. With Itachi.

An awkward silence passed while an unreadable expression crossed Itachi's face. Moments later, he started making his way back down the hall, the opposite direction of our class.

"Wait!" I called out behind him, "Aren't you coming in?"

"No," Itachi said darkly, "I'm sitting today's lesson out."

What? He was going to skip class over this?

"Oh, um, alright," I said, watching him go. I supposed this was Itachi's way of acting upset. It was almost unsettling, watching him display any sort of petulant emotion. Especially after what I'd seen.

The rest of the class started to arrive, rushing past me towards the room as I stood there, silent. For some reason, the air still felt tense long after Itachi'd left. A part of me wondered if I should've asked to talk to him, to get him to explain his actions over the weekend. Then again, I didn't know if I could even muster the courage to try.

_Bzzt. Bzzt. _

I practically jumped at the sound as I felt my phone buzz in my skirt pocket. I was surprised to see a message from Sasuke.

_'Are you coming to the meeting today?' _he'd written.

I frowned, texting back.

'_What meeting?_'

'_Idiot. We have one every Monday. Weren't you at the last one?"_

..._Did we_? They'd mentioned these meetings in my presence a few times now, but I'd assumed I wasn't meant to attend. Had I been mistaken? And why didn't Sasuke know if I was at the last one?

_RRRRRNG! RRRRRNG! RRRRRNG!_

I cringed, the shrill of the bell reminiscent of that horrible alarm we'd heard at the mountain house. It brought up unwanted memories, not to mention reminded me that I was now officially late to a class I'd been standing outside of for almost ten minutes. And for what? To attempt to diffuse a fight I'd taken no part in.

"Great," I grumbled, running back towards the door. "what a way to start off my Monday."

'

* * *

'

I dared to hope some of my questions might get answered a few hours later as I approached room 7C. Sasuke had informed me over text this was where they always met for their Monday meetings after school. My drawing class, however, had let out a little early, so I'd found myself alone in the room as I'd entered.

Alone, except for one other.

"Hey," Shisui said quietly. He was standing inside the clubroom with his arms crossed, leaning against the chalkboard.

"Oh hey," I said, feeling a little awkward. We'd sat in silence all of painting class, after Kurenai was done glaring me down for coming in after the bell. Unlike Kakashi, she was a stickler for punctuality.

"Yeah," Shisui chuckled, "sorry we made you late to Painting, by the way."

"It's fine, it wasn't really you guys' fault. Besides, I'm sure Ms. Yuuhi will forgive me... _someday_," I sighed, before taking a seat in one of chairs. The desks had been arranged in a semicircle around the class, almost like a normal club. I knew, however, this meeting would be far from normal.

"I'm just surprised Itachi didn't come in with you. He never skips class." Shisui's jaw tensed, "Guess I went too far, huh?"

"Is it really that big of a deal to miss the first game of the year?" I asked, hands busy strapping my bag to the desk's side hook, "I mean, I know you're a senior, but I bet there are a lot of other games this season..."

I clamped my mouth shut as I watched Shisui lower his head. Had I said too much?

He uncrossed his arms, moving towards the window to stare out at the trees. "My played at the Dome when he attended Konoha High."

"What?" I asked, "Really? I didn't realize your dad went here..."

"Yeah. Back then, we weren't on such bad terms with Bunkyo. I've always wanted to do this one game to honor his memory." Shisui spoke sadly, "He died when I was a kid."

"Oh," I said, face falling, "I'm so sorry..."

"Thanks." Shisui shook his head, his back still turned to me. The sunset shone orange on his silhouette, his shadow long on the floors and sloping onto the desks. "It's just that, before he died, he wouldn't shut up about that game. How the Dome made it feel like you were in the center of the world, lights beating down on you, the sound of the crowd echoing from all sides. He said he'd take me to a game there every weekend if he could, except it was outside our territory. I'd have a target on my back every minute I'd set foot in there, being an Uchiha."

"Right," I nodded hesitantly, "but I guess you're saying... you want to go anyways?"

"Yeah," Shisui said darkly, "I don't care what Itachi thinks. I'm going to Bunkyo."

"_What?_" A shocked voice spoke from behind us.

It was the worst time for Naruto to walk in.

"What's going on here?" Ino asked, she and Sakura walking up behind him.

"Shisui's still talking about going to Bunkyo," Naruto said, a pinched look on his face; it was a cross between agitation, wariness, and concern. "C'mon, man! I thought we already talked this through."

Ino and Sakura exchanged a glance. "Oh," Sakura said with a sigh, "not this again."

"Shisui," Neji's voice came next. For some reason he was wearing a white martial arts uniform, and already had his hands in his sleeves as he entered the room with a sigh. "with all due respect, you underestimate the risks, especially right now. You can't go."

"He's right. Leaving our territory is one thing, but for Bunkyo?" Sakura added. "We're kind of currently in a gang war with them, in case you've forgotten."

"It's fine, guys. It's at the Konoha Dome." Shisui said, suddenly looking worn. "There's going to be a huge crowd and a lot of witnesses. It's the first game of the season and it's really important to me. Plus they rarely let high schoolers play there nowadays. This might be my only shot," he turned to me. "you understand, right?"

"What?" I blinked.

"I don't believe for a _second_ that a civilian was let into the Konoha Alliance for nothing." Shisui said, a hard look in his eye. "You're here because you're the type of person that understands there are just some things in life that are worth the risk, aren't you? I heard about what you'd said to get Minato to let you join."

If I ever met other Emiya, I might wring her neck for what she'd gotten us into.

Neji shook his head. "It's a bad example, seeing as _Minato's_ the one who's forbidden this. If you're not worried about the risk to your life, at least considering the risk to your membership. It's grounds for expulsion from the Alliance."

"Yeah, I'm sorry Shisui. You're not going to be able to get anyone to come as backup, either," Sakura added. "none of us can set foot in Sound Syndicate territory."

She was wrong. _I_ could. Out of everyone here, only I had that freedom. Like Itachi had said, it was the whole reason I was here.

As calm as my old life was, I'd never felt like I'd had such an important role before. It was... kind of nice, if not scary, having this sort of unique responsibility all to myself.

"Yeah, yeah," Shisui sighed, taking his seat at one of the desks. "I got it, already."

"Alright then," Naruto said cheerfully, "now that this is settled, let's start getting ready for the meeting!" he turned to Shisui, who sighed.

"I'll let you run this one, Naruto," Shisui said glumly. "I'm not really in the mood."

"Really?!" Naruto's eyes were shining. I raised a brow at this.

"Does Shisui usually run these meetings?" I asked.

"He's the oldest member right now, so yeah," Sakura said. I nodded in understanding as the door to the clubroom swung open again.

Naruto's jaw dropped as he watched who entered.

"Sasuke?!" Naruto exclaimed. "You never come to these!"

Sasuke only shrugged, his shoulders stuffed into his pockets. His eyes darted in my direction before taking his seat. "I figured I'd get you to stop nagging me if I showed up for a few, at least."

After him came the rest of the Alliance, at least the members I knew; Hinata, Kiba, Shino, Chouji, and Shikamaru all trailing in within minutes of each other. No Itachi, however, no surprise there.

"Alright, now that we're all here, let's commence!" Naruto said, standing proudly at the front of the room. "First up, patrols! Sasuke and Sakura, you've got Tuesday's shift, Neji, you and Hinata are on Wednesday. And for Thursday, maybe we should do Kiba and Chouji—oh wait, no, how about Chouji and Shika... Actually, no, we need Shikamaru in Shibuya that night, so why don't we..."

Something told me this was going to be a long day.

'

* * *

'

Wednesday, the day of Shisui's game, seemed to fly by in an instance. For some reason, I'd spent all day feeling a bit unsettled, so by the end of last period I'd become compelled to check on the boy.

"He should be in the clubroom," Itachi said. I'd managed to catch him in the hall and muster up the balls to question him on Shisui's whereabouts, "he told me he's been assigned to a patrol tonight, so he has to prepare his things."

"Oh," I said, surprised. I could've sworn at the meeting Naruto had assigned today's patrol to Hyugas. Then again, Itachi hadn't even been there. "I see. I guess I'll look for him there, then."

Itachi nodded, walking off without a word. I went the opposite direction, heading straight for the clubroom.

_I've got a bad feeling about this,_ I thought to myself, almost breaking into a run as I ascended the stairs towards my destination.

I slid the clubroom's door open, my worst suspicions confirmed. Empty.

"Oh boy," I said to myself, "this is bad, isn't it?"

It was quite clear what was happening here. I'd need to leave now, or I'd be too late.

15 minutes later, I found myself at the closest bus stop to the school.

"Aha!" I shouted. Shisui froze, his foot on the first step at the door.

He had a large duffel at his side, and was clearly wearing his baseball uniform under his black hoodie, the white shirt peeking out at his midriff.

"And what do you think you're doing here?" I asked. He glanced between me and the bus driver, reluctantly stepping back onto the street to address me.

"Fine, you caught me. I'm sneaking out," Shisui said, "I don't care what they say. It's my senior year, I might not get another chance like this."

I sighed. "Yeah, I figured. Fine, I won't try to stop you."

"Really?" Shisui's eyes perked up. "

"I... I appreciate it, Emiya. I knew Minato brought you on for a reason."

"Right." I said, trying to sound firm, "...Which is why I'm going with you."

"Wh... What?"

"Minato didn't give me the order to stay away from Bunkyo, remember? I'm the free-moving agent," I said cheerfully, "or you know, a glorified gopher. I'm honestly not really sure what to call myself."

"It's dangerous, Emiya." Shisui paused, "I mean, I do have an extra ticket, but I don't know if it's worth it to put you in harm's way for this..."

"But I want to see your game!" I pouted. "And who else is going to take pictures of your big moment? You can't go alone!"

In truth, I was a bit terrified, and I could feel my shoulders shaking. Still, even though it was dangerous, I knew I was the only one that could do this for him. It was a big day for him, and he deserved to have a friend there to witness it.

_Wow, when did you start taking this stuff so seriously?_ I thought jokingly to myself, a sad attempt at humor to calm my nerves. A part of me still wanted to back out, but that possibility was put to rest when Shisui's face broke out into a grin.

"Alright," Shisui said, jerking his thumb towards the bus' door. "shall we, then?"

'

* * *

'

"Here," I said, placing the cap on Shisui's head. He smiled from under the brim.

"Not much of a creative disguise, is it?" Shisui teased. "Baseball cap at a baseball game."

I rolled my eyes. "You're going to be wearing a hoodie over it too, dumbass. Just keep your head down and don't let anyone see your face, okay?"

"Okay. Thanks, Emiya."

We'd gotten off the bus at a rest stop right outside of Bunkyo, just in time to buy some disguises at the gift store. There, we'd decided to purchase a few extra sets of hoodies, face masks, as well as hats, just so Shisui would have the chance to change outfits and stay under the Sound Syndicate's radar. He'd had it all planned out, even using a fake ID to purchase the bus tickets online. Of course, once he was on the field at the game, his cover would be blown. But we'd cross that bridge when we got to it.

"You're going to want to make sure to cover yourself up too," Shisui said, pulling the strings of my own teal hoodie closed so tight until the puckered opening could barely fit my eyes and nose through it, even though I already had a face mask on underneath, "if your face is seen by the Syndicate, your entire role in the Alliance is blown."

"Oh yeah," I realized. I hadn't even thought of that before. Being here meant I could be ruining the entire operation they'd had set up for me.

Oops.

"It's fine," Shisui said, "I'll make sure we aren't caught. Don't worry about it," he winked.

For some reason, that did put me at ease. I settled back into my seat on the bus, staring out the window at the passing view. We'd just passed the border of Shinjuku into Bunkyo. There was no turning back now.

"That's it," Shisui said, almost an hour later. "that's the Dome."

I stared, marveling at the sight.

It was large, the smooth white dome glowing in the sun of early evening. In its back were carnival rides, rollercoasters and a full-on fair, the string lights giving the air a festive feel as we stepped off the bus and into the madness of the crowd outside.

I hadn't been to the Dome before, even back when this was just normal Tokyo, but the pictures I'd seen of it since then hadn't done it justice. It sat there in perfect view, brilliant and towering, greeting us at our arrival.

I turned to Shisui, his eyes wide and shining.

"It's beautiful," I said. Shisui's eyes crinkled as he grinned.

"Yeah," he breathed. "it really is."

Briefly, I wondered what he was thinking. This was it. He'd finally get to play the game he'd been waiting for all his life.

He quickly lowered his gaze, pulling the brim of his hat over his eyes once more.

"We have to make it through this crowd quickly," Shisui said quietly, "before some recognizes us."

"Right," I nodded, following Shisui's lead as he cut through the mass of people in front of us. He showed the guard his badge at the door, and soon, we were in.

"It's really cool on the inside too," I said, following Shisui down the winding, semicircular white hallways. He chuckled, before pointing me towards a door on the wall to our side.

"Spectators go through that door," Shisui said, shifting his duffel bag on his shoulder, "I have to head to the locker rooms to change."

"O-oh," I said, realizing for the first time we'd actually be separated in enemy territory. Of course, what was I thinking? It's not like I could go out onto the field with him.

"It'll be fine, Emiya," Shisui smiled reassuringly, "don't worry. I'll see you out there, then?"

"Right," I said, shooting him a thumbs up back. "good luck, Shisui! You'll do great."

We parted ways, and I hurried through the doors. There, I was greeted with the largest rows and down into the seat outlined on the ticket Shisui had given me.

'

* * *

'

SLAM.

I shot up to my feet, alongside the rest of the crowd, as we cheered on Shisui's third homerun of the game. Even though he'd knocked it out of the field, he ran the bases at lightning speed, a streak of white flashing across the grass. I'd almost forgotten he was considered a track star at school as well, and for good reason.

"Wow!" I heard the person in the seat next to me shout, "That kid is amazing! What did they say his name was again?"

I flinched. Shisui'd been playing such a great game so far, I'd been so caught up in the excitement that I'd almost forgotten why I was here, instead of his other friends.

I retightened the strings of the hoodie around my face, clicking 'save' on the video I'd just captured before lowering myself down into my seat.

"Dunno," said the other guy to his right, "it's a high school game, though. Imagine what that kid's going to do when he finally gets to the big leagues. Reps'll be all over him."

_Wow,_ I realized. He really was good at this. I wondered briefly if all the other members of the Alliance were this talented at their chosen sports as well.

In a flash, the game was over, and Shisui ran up to me in the hallway where I'd been waiting, his face a show of wonder.

"I," he said breathily, "I can't believe it. We won!"

"You did!" I said, grinning. "And I got it all on video. Congrats, Shisui!"

"Thank you," he said, voice overwhelmed with emotion. "I... thank you. For coming." he paused. "It really means a lot."

"Of course," I said. "I wouldn't have missed it for the world."

We left after most of the crowd, with half an hour to spare before the next bus.

"Should we kill some time while we're waiting?" Shisui grinned. He gestured to the fair going on behind us. "It looks like Bunkyo's busy celebrating the win, too."

"Sure," I said. We went out to the fairground, Shisui immediately running up to a fair booth to get us some meat skewers. I was about to follow, when I felt my phone buzzing in my pocket again.

I checked to see a surprisingly long series of missed calls and texts from Naruto, one in particular detailing his worry.

_Yo Emiya where are you?! Why aren't you answering your phone? Sakura's freaking out! she thinks Shisui took you to Bunkyo but he would never do that he knows it's too dangerous! Can you just call her back and let her know you didn't go? please she's so mad she keeps yelling at everyone oh__ no now she's yelling at meee :( :( :(_

Shit, they'd realized we were gone. It was inevitable, but a part of me had been optimistic that our absence would go unnoticed. Still, surely once they saw how well Shisui had played tonight, they'd agree we made the right choice.

But apparently that would be the least of my worries tonight.

"You," I looked up to see a boy with hair so tall it rivaled Kakashi's, standing with a girl a with long black strands and a bandaged boy to their right. "are you with that guy?"

"What guy?" I asked, glancing around.

"The one you were talking to him earlier, in the cap and jacket. I saw him at the game." he paused, "That's Shisui Uchiha, right?"

I froze.

"U-uh, no, I'm not, I'm not sure... I'm not with him, we just sort of met and —"

"What's your name, kid?" the boy took a step forward.

"I..." No, I couldn't tell them. I couldn't tell them anything.

I needed to get out of here.

"Man, I can't believe he really showed up in our territory," he laughed, "what balls. And for what, a stupid little baseball game?"

"Uh..." I backed away slowly, pulling the strings of my hoodie tighter as I did.

If they saw my face now, it could ruin the entire operation Minato had planned next week. I hadn't decided if I wanted to go through with it yet, but that didn't mean I was ready for the Sound Syndicate to put my image on their blacklist as well.

"Aw, you trying to hide your indentity? It's okay." he said, "I'll find out anyways." He reached out to grab at my hoodie. I gasped, pulling away.

"Hey, hands off!" I barked, before breaking off into a sprint. My legs had moved faster than ever before, knowing I needed to put distance between myself and them, and especially Shisui. I was half a block down when I heard the voice from behind me.

"Good idea," he said, "you got us away from the crowd. Now, anything can happen, and no one'll know."

"Shit," I gasped, stopping in the middle of a dark alleyway, where the road ended in a chain link fence. The long-haired girl stood in front of me, suddenly blocking my path, as the dark-haired boy had me cornered from behind.

"I'd stop there, if I were you."

"Shisui!" I shouted in relief. He emerged from the shadows behind the dark-haired boy, who turned to face him with a sneer.

"Hey. What's going on here?" Shisui said, giving a friendly wave to me with one hand. There was an aluminum baseball bat in the other. "Are these guys bothering you?"

"I knew it." the dark-haired boy snarled. "An Uchiha, in our territory? You must really not value your life. Then again, your clan's known for their delusions."

"Uchiha?" Shisui said calmly. "Never heard of them. But I'm sure whoever they are, they wouldn't appreciate you dragging their name through the mud like that."

I watched in utter horror at what came next.

Shisui slammed the bat into the street, straight _through_ the road. The asphalt split as the tip of the bat dug into the soil underneath, sending flecks of dirt flying every which direction.

The other boy'ss eyes went wide. Even the girl looked a bit put-off by it.

"_Whoa,_" I accidentally spoke aloud.

Shisui's gaze fell on me. "You should run now." His tone was still casual, as if he hadn't just demolished part of a public road with only a baseball bat. He raised the bat up to rest on his shoulder, tiny bits of black still stuck to the polished aluminum. Overall, though, the bat had suffered the least of the damages.

I stared at the new hole. "Uh, are you sure—"

The dark-haired boy charged Shisui, who dodged immediately, slamming his knee into his opponent's middle. A string of saliva fell from the dark-haired boy's lips as he choked, falling to the ground on his hands before twisting his body to kick up at Shisui's shin. Shisui fell as his ankles were pulled towards the ground by the tip of his opponent's shoes, but not before the girl came in with a knife aimed at his throat.

Shisui, however, was too fast for her. He grabbed her by the wrist, slamming her to the ground before rolling into a landing himself to break his own fall. The other boy recovered quickly, standing up and throwing a series of hits at Shisui, who held up his bat to dodge.

"I recognize you," Shisui said suddenly, lowering his bat before sliding to the side to avoid the boy's last punch. "you're Zaku Abumi of the Sound Syndicate. They say your skills are only matched by your arrogance."

"That's right," Zaku sneered. "and that there is Kin Tsuchi. I'm sure you've heard of her too. And if you know our reputations, you should just give up now. You're both going to die here tonight."

"I think I'll be fine," Shisui said lightly, jumping forwad to feint a punch. While Zaku was distracted with dodging, Shisui twisted around and slammed his bat, hard, into the back of the boy's legs.

I heard the echo of metal hitting bone as he did.

Zaku screamed a curse as he fell to the ground, Kin coming up fast behind him.

"Shisui, look out!" I screamed. The moonlight flashed fast on the needles Kin had grasped between her fingers, propelled towards Shisui only seconds later.

Shisui reacted quickly, ducking away from the needles, before swinging his bat at Kin again. It caught her in the chest, her shriek ripping through the night air as her body slammed against the near wall.

The both laid out in crumpled heaps on the floor. I stared at their unmoving forms, sighing in relief as Shisui turned to approach me.

"You okay, Emiya?" he asked, kneeling in front of me.

I blinked. "Y-yeah. That... that was amazing," I smiled weakly.

"Thanks," Shisui laughed, "sorry tonight's been so hectic. Let's go home."

I nodded, taking his hand gratefully as he helped me up.

We stood to leave, but we'd just barely out of the alley where we saw him.

I gasped.

A white-haired man with two red dots painted over his brows stood in our way, wearing a draping white shirt tied together by a thick purple sash.

Dread thickened in my veins as I slowly came to recognize the man, even after having never met him before. Still, it was unmistakeable.

This was Kimimaro standing before us.

'

* * *

'

"Hide," Shisui hissed. I ran off behind a set of parked cars nearby, peeking over the hood as I watched Shisui and Kimimaro face off.

"I've heard much about you," Kimimaro said. "Shisui of the Uchiha clan. The golden boy of the Alliance, rumored to be one of its fastest members since the Yellow Flash himself."

"Wow," Shisui said dryly, "you sure seem to know a lot about me, but I can't say I've heard anything about you."

"I have my sources," Kimimaro replied in an unchanging, straight tone, "and you wouldn't have heard of me, I'm afraid. Rarely am I called upon to deal with matters involving mere children."

"Oh, that's good," Shisui replied, "being underestimated is a rare advantage for me."

Kimimaro had no reaction at this. Within the second, Shisui's bat had already been raised, and he was standing in front of Kimimaro, inches away from landing a hit.

"Oh my god!" I yelled, watching Kimimaro's hand shoot up, grabbing the bat from Shisui's grasp before flopping the boy onto the ground like it was nothing.

"Ugh," Shisui groaned as he peeled himself off of the floor. He got up slowly, taking heavy breaths as he clutched at his middle before turning to Kimimaro. "alright, I admit, you really got me there. Are you sure I haven't heard of you before?"

The white-haired man was approaching him slowly, stalking over like a lion and with its prey, the man now holding a bone-white dagger in his hand.

"Give up now," Kimimaro said, "I've no interest in fighting with novices."

"Good thing I'm no rookie, then," Shisui scoffed, swinging his bat widely again.

What happened next was a surprise. Instead of dodging to the side, Kimimaro practically folded his leg completely under him, lowering near to the ground and swiftly swiping the road with his back before coming back up again. His grip remained tight on the dagger the entire time as he did so, but it was his face that closed the distance between himself and Shisui's form.

"Shit!" Shisui yelped, eyes widening as Kimimaro's mouth clamped on his ankle.

I watched in horror as the scene unfolded. Shisui fell back onto his rear, Kimimaro's teeth still gripping his leg so tightly, red dribbled out of the older man's mouth. Within the second, Kimimaro had let go and stood up again, but not before grabbing Shisui by the elbow as he tried to scrambled back. He pulled Shisui back up towards him, only to lift up his foot and slam it _hard,_ right in the space between Shisui's shoulder and arm.

I heard the_ crnnnnch_ as an agonized scream ripped from Shisui's lips. "_EUAAAGH_!"

My hands flew up to my ears in an attempt to drown out the horrible sound, the pain unbearable to witness. Sure enough, Kimimaro released Shisui's hand, his other grip still on the dagger.

Shisui attempted to stand back up again, wincing as the pain shot up from his injured ankle, before darting forward to throw another punch at Kimimaro. The man folded back over again, his neck practically tickling the road as he dodged. Shisui's eyes widening as his hit missed by many more inches than expected.

It was clear who'd be winning this fight now. Despite his speed, Shisui simply couldn't keep up with the man's agility, not to mention his ungodly flexibility. It was like the white-haired man was missing several bones in his body.

"Shit," Shisui yelped, "shit, shit!" He glanced around, noticing Kimimaro had thrown his bat off to the side of the street, closer to where I was hiding. He quickly ran towards it, but Kimimaro was too fast. He was already standing over Shisui, dagger raised on the air. Shisui looked up only to see the white tip of the weapon was already hovering inches away from his face.

And then, Kimimaro struck.

"No!" I scream, running from the safety of my hiding place towards the two. My heart raced in my chest, like someone had reached out to grab and squeeze it, but I knew I was Shisui's only chance. The hood partially blocked my view, but I could see Kimimaro's reddened eyes widening as I slammed myself into his arm.

But it was too late. The tip of the blade still kissed Shisui's eyelid as he gave a yelp of pain.

Shisui clutched his wounded eye, the blood already dripping down the left half of his face. Through the thick curtain of red, he gasped as he watched Kimimaro grab me by the back of my jacket and flip me over his arm midair. Next thing I knew, I was sent sprawling onto a sewer grate.

"Foolish child," Kimimaro said lowly, "civilians should stay out of this."

"No!" I screamed, rolling over to scramble backwards on my hands, "Stay away, stay away—"

Kimimaro ignored my please, his dagger still wet with Shisui's blood as he stalked towards me. I squeezed my eyes shut, anticipating the pain.

"Get away from her!" I heard Shisui's shout before my eyes shot open to see him jumped up behind Kimimaro, bat in hand. He swung it straight towards Kimimaro's face, the man's eyes widening momentarily as the cool metal made contact with his cheek.

Kimimaro twisted around and caught the bat before it could do anything more than brush at his skin, slamming his fist into Shisui's middle as he did.

Shisui fell to the ground in a crumpled heap, unmoving. The bat hit the floor with a _clang_, rolling to a stop right at my feet.

"_Shisui!_" I yelled, regaining Kimimaro's attention as he turned towards me.

"It's over." Kimimaro said. "Learn from your friend's mistakes. Give up now, while you still can."

He was right. Kimimaro in the series had already been a force to be reckoned with, but I'd never imagined Shisui would lose to him in a showdown. In fact, he'd barely been able to hold his own against the other man. They were both highly-regarded members of the Yakuza, so why were their skill levels so uneven?

Something was going on here that I didn't understand, but either way, I was heavily outmatched. There was no chance I'd survive facing off with Kimimaro, no matter how hard I tried.

But I still had to try.

"No," I said, eyes brimming with tears. I grabbed the bat, standing up shakily as I raised it up in the air. "I won't."

"Very well," Kimimaro said. He flicked his wrist, sheathing his dagger, as if to send the message he wouldn't need it against me. He took a slow step towards me, and I lunged forward with the bat.

_Swooosh. _

The air whipped around me, my eyes dry as the dust settled in them. I blinked out the tears as I realized something strong had gripped me around my middle, the bat still squeezed tightly between my palms.

"You," Kimimaro said, "are you with them?"

I looked up to see the form of Itachi Uchiha. In his other arm I could see he had also grabbed Shisui, much to my relief, until I realized that meant Itachi Uchiha was also holding me far off the ground by my stomach.

Still, right now, I'd take him over Kimimaro any day.

"Yes," Itachi said coolly, "and we'll be taking our leave."

He threw something round hard at the ground, a puff of thick smoke suddenly engulfing us moments after.

Next thing I knew, we were gone.

'

* * *

'

A/N: The Konoha Dome is based off the Tokyo Dome in Bunkyo. Just assume everything that says Konoha really translates to Tokyo in our world haha


End file.
